A FARMER in India has been naked since he was 5-year-old because he’s allergic to clothes.

    Simply slipping on a sock would cause excruciating pain for Subal Barman, 43, from Rajpur village, in West Bengal, northern India.

    Despite being diagnosed when he was a child, Barman has been unable to seek treatment because of the costs.

    Instead he has got used to living his day-to-day life in the nude.

    The condition is so uncomfortable, can’t even sleep under bed sheets as the material affects his sensitive skin.

    While many might be shocked to see a fully-grown man wandering around wearing little to protect his modesty, he insists people in his village have got used to him.

    “From my childhood I could not wear clothes on my skin. It gives me a burning sensation and it’s unbearable,” he said.

    “My neighbors have fortunately got used to me, they think it’s normal and never complain,” he added.

    He refuses to allow his allergy to ruin his social life and explains that he’s attended weddings, parties and even popped into the local temple completely naked.

    Despite years battling the elements without a stitch on, Barman, who has never left his village, still has trouble with the weather.

    “I have to take baths several times a day in the summer because my skin is too sensitive to the heat,” he said. “I can’t cope with the prickly sensations, water is the only thing that helps.”

    His allergy hasn’t affected his work as a farmer but Barman, who lives alone after losing his father as a child and his mother in 2003, is convinced it is the reason he’s still single.

    “No family will allow their daughter to marry me. I know I’m an embarrassment but I have no choice. This is the life I have to live. I know I’ll be alone forever — this is my destiny but being sad or depressed about it cannot reduce my problem.”

    (SD-Agencies)