See Photos: Doctors remove knife used to ward of evil spirits from baby's stomach

Doctors in India have removed a penknife from the stomach of a six-month-old boy who had been wearing it around his neck to ward off evil spirits.Dev Thakor, swallowed the knife by accident while being breastfed by his mother Rekha Ben.He had been wearing it on a string around his neck, which is a local tradition in India...

Dev's father, Bharat Thakor, said his son 'suddenly started crying, screaming' before his family noticed the knife was missing. The child was then rushed to a private hospital where an X-ray confirmed he had swallowed the penknife

The two-inch foldable knife came off its string last Friday as Dev was being fed by his mother. He then swallowed it without her noticing. 

Mr Thakor, a tea stall owner, didn't have enough money for his son's surgery but his neighbours and customers came to his aid and 'saved my son's life'. 

Dr Shravan Bohra, chief gastroenterologist at Apollo Hospitals where Dev's operation was performed, said

‘It was a critical case as the knife was lying open in the upper part of Dev’s stomach and could have harmed the Mucosa - the inner part of his body - but fortunately he was remarkably not injured.