Four-year old Tasfia Jahan Munira’s countenance is just like any other child.

Only when someone looks at her body, the disease, afflicting the little girl in Chapainawabganj’s Nachole upazila’s Godown para, jars the mind.

A thick layer of long, coarse, black body-hair covers Tasfia’s back, almost hiding a tennis-ball sized tumour between the shoulder blade and the spine.

The unusual growth of hair makes her skin appear burnt and in hot weather the little girl suffers from severe burning sensation, said her mother Tanzila Khatun, a housewife.

According to Tasfia’s parents, she was born with the tumour.

At first, it was small but then it grew in size along with excessive hair growth over the years, her parents said.

“We took her to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for treatment. There a specialist suggested that we take her to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital,” said Tasfia’s day labourer father Masuduzzaman, who is the only bread-winner of his four-member family.

Tasfia has an elder sister who studies in Class III at a local primary school.

Fearing the costs of travelling to Dhaka and paying for diagnostic tests and medicine, Tasfia’s parents decided against going to BSMMU for their daughter’s treatment.

When the doctors of Nachole Upazila Health Complex came to know of the matter, they contacted the family and Tasfia was admitted at the health complex on August 27.

Dr Sultana Papiya, Nachole upazila health and family planning officer, said, it is a rare disease.

We consulted with doctors of BSMMU over video conferencing about Tasfia’s case and were advised to send the girl there, she told The Daily Star.

A couple of volunteer organisations have arranged for the family’s travel to Dhaka, she added.

Masuduzzaman informed that they will go to Dhaka on Thursday.