Kolkata, August 6

A nine-year-old boy in a West Bengal town is said to be in slumber for the past 11 months, baffling doctors by his Rip Van Winkle act. Reports today said Arup Manna of Panskura in East Midnapore district was an active and playful boy of eight until 11 months ago when he suddenly started falling asleep. The boy, who used to paint and recite very well, can now only be half awakened for feeding and answering nature’s call. The boy’s mother says Arup used to complain of drowsiness initially and then sank into a long slumber in September. Alok Manna, the boy’s father, has taken him for treatment to Kolkata, Vellore in Tamil Nadu and Cuttack in Orissa but to no avail. The boy sleeps in a bed at his maternal uncle’s house in Panskura like a comatose patient while his parents have run out of money trying to get him treated.