Surgeons who tried in vain to save the life of Kamleshwar Singh, who was suffering acute stomach pain.
They were left amazed to find 6kg of metal in his stomach.
They discovered that Singh, a farmer, had eaten 431 coins, 196 iron pellets, 17 bolts and three keys.
He had spent the last nine months secretly eating 13lb of iron objects and visited doctors after enduring sleepless nights and appetite loss.
‘He visited us complaining of intolerable abdominal pain,’ said Bhojram Dewangan, of the Shreesti Institute of Medical Science in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
‘All the iron objects were lying at the base of his stomach. When we started the surgery, we thought we would find a few items.
‘But as we progressed, we were amazed to find such a huge number of coins and pellets had passed into his intestines. Signs of chronic ulceration were apparent in the stomach.’
Mr Singh, who had psychiatric problems, did not survive the surgery.
His wife, Kusumi, said: ‘My husband complained of frequent stomach ache and spent sleepless nights in the past four weeks.
‘But he kept us in the dark about swallowing iron objects.
‘He stopped going to the field citing weakness and was even unable to have his regular meals.’
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