40-hour op bid on eight limb girl.

A TWO-YEAR-OLD Indian girl born with four arms and four legs was yesterday undergoing a marathon op to give her a normal body.

A team of 30 surgeons began an extraordinary 40-hour bid to separate little Lakshmi from the unborn twin she absorbed in the womb.

The rare condition - known as ischiopagus - means Lakshmi was born with eight limbs, four kidneys, two spines, tangled nerves and other problems.

Early yesterday, surgeons in Bangalore managed to separate her spines. The next step was to remove her extra limbs.

Dr Sharan Patil, who is leading the team, said yesterday: "It's a big effort by a lot of surgeons who will be putting their heart and soul into solving the problem."

Dr Patil said there was a 25 per cent chance Lakshmi could die during the operation.

Yesterday, Lakshmi's mother, Poonam Tatma, collapsed as the girl was taken into surgery.

Dad Shambu said: "She could not stop crying from fear. She is sleeping now for the first time in days after being sedated."

The surgeons took on the case for free after hearing Lakshmi's poor parents had been turned away from every hospital they tried for help.

Little Lakshmi - named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth - is worshipped by some villagers where she lives in the poor northern state of Bihar.

The family kept her in hiding after a circus tried to buy her.

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ORDEAL: Little Lakshmi