Dhamtari (Chhattisgarh), Sep 9 - He hasn't stepped out of his house for 25 years. No, he isn't physically challenged. This 44-year-old man, who lives in a Chhattisgarh village, is simply scared of the sun and its rays.

Gautam Singh Parihar has kept himself confined to his small house in Dhamtari district's Hinchhapur village for all these years because of his great fear of the sun rays - a phobia neither doctors nor witch doctors have been able to cure.

Parihar is from a poor family, which has now got into debt after spending thousands of rupees on possible cures by a 'Biaga', a person who claims to treat people through witchcraft. The village is in the Nagari block, some 160 km from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.

'I called several doctors to treat my son but no one detected any disease. Whenever we try to take him out from the house during daytime, he starts crying and begins running towards a dark room,' Kala Bai, Parihar's 65-year-old mother, told IANS.

She said that his fear started when he went into depression after failing in his Class 9 exam. Parihar is the eldest of her two sons.

She recalled the time in 1980 when he failed in his exam.

'For about three-four years he largely confined himself to the house to avoid meeting anyone and later he developed it as a permanent habit,' Kala Bai said.