Cambodia widow sees dead husband in five-month-old calf

Khim Hang, 74, sits at her bedroom with a cow which she believes is her reborn husband in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

KRATIE, Cambodia (Reuters) - Cambodia's latest social media sensation is a five-month-old calf believed by a villager to be the reincarnation of her dead husband.

Khim Hang, 74, said up to 100 people a day visit her home in northeast Kratie province to see the calf she said behaves very similar to her husband, Tol Khut, who died more than a year ago.

"I believe that the calf is my husband because whatever he does...is in exactly the same way as my husband did when he was alive," she told Reuters Television.

Relatives caress a cow in which they believe the family's patriarch was reborn in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

The young cow was born in March and has attracted a strong following on social media.

"I thought it was quite unusual to see a cow go up to the house like this," said Thach Vin, 32, referring to a video she saw on Facebook in which the calf walked up stairs into the family's one-storey home.  

"So I came here to see it with my own eyes," she said.

Relatives play inside a house with a cow which they believe is the family's reborn patriarch in Kratie province, Cambodia. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

Once inside the wooden house, the calf is fed, washed and put to bed with a fluffy pillow once used by Tol Khut.

Cambodia is 95 percent Buddhist and many believe the soul of a person is reincarnated after death.

"I will keep him and take care of him for my entire life," said Khim Hang.        

A cow walks into a house of a family that believes it's their reborn patriarch in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

(Reporting by Lach Chantha, Writing by Prak Chan Thul, Editing by Michael Perry)

Khim Hang, 74, sits in her bedroom with a cow which she believes is her reborn husband in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

Khim Hang, 74, sits in her bedroom with a cow which she believes is her reborn husband in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

A cow walks into a house as the family believes it's their reborn patriarch in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

Khim Hang, 74, feeds a cow which she believes is her reborn husband in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

A cow stays inside of a house, as family believes it's their reborn patriarch, in Kratie province, Cambodia, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Samrang Pring