An Indian woman with 20 toes and 12 fingers is called a witch and has faced a lifetime of persecution in her village in eastern India.

Nayak Kumari, 63, was forced to spend much of her life inside the four walls of her small hut in Kadapada, in Ganjam district.

“If I stepped out, I would be greeted with hostile stares and I would hurry back to my home,” Kumari said.

“People in the village are superstitious, they thought I was a witch and kept away from me," she added.

Kumari was unable to find work or marry and was reduced to destitution. She survived with the dole outs from a few kind relatives.

“I was born into a poor family with this defect. We never had money to get me treated,” she said.

Kumari was born with polydactyly where a person is born with extra fingers or toes.

Experts say while having one or two extra fingers is fairly common, having 20 toes and 12 fingers is very rare.

Help finally arrived for Kumari a few days ago. After local media reported on her plight, government officials moved her to an old age home, where she is now being looked after.