An Iranian hermit dubbed the “world’s dirtiest man” died Sunday, months after washing for the first time in more than six decades. He was 94.
According to the IRNA news agency, Amou Haji died in the village of Dezhgah, located in the southern province of Fars, CNN reported.
Haji had refused to use soap and water for more than 60 years, fearing that it would make him sick, according to the BBC. Villagers said Haji had experienced “emotional setbacks in his youth” that led him to shy away from washing, The Guardian reported.
An Iranian hermit known as "the world's dirtiest man" has died at the age of 94, just months after taking his first wash in decades, Iranian state media announced. https://t.co/fWqaHvVZy9
— CNN International (@cnni) October 27, 2022
Haji, who was unmarried, had resisted several attempts by villagers to get him clean. Several years ago, a group of villagers took drove him to a nearby river in an attempt to wash him, but Haji threw himself out of the vehicle and fled, CNN reported.
IRNA reported that years of not bathing had left Haji with skin covered in “soot and pus,” according to the BBC.
In 2014, the Tehran Times reported that Haji would eat roadkill and believed that cleanliness would make him ill. Photos showed him smoking several cigarettes at once.
Haji told the newspaper that his favorite meal was porcupine and that he lived between a hole in the ground and a brick shack built by concerned neighbors, the BBC reported.
Several months ago, villagers were successful in washing Haji, CNN reported.
A documentary about his life, “The Strange Life of Amou Haji,” was released in 2013, according to media outlets in Iran, according to USA Today.
Haji’s funeral was held Tuesday in the nearby city of Farashband, according to IRNA.
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