Auto cannibalism in mental retardation

Mental retardation (MR) deems an individual more vulnerable to psychopathologies. The individual may develop an array of behavioral disturbances manifesting themselves in the form of aggressive and destructive conduct, violent fits of anger, stereotyped, or self-injuring behavior. Self-injurious behavior is heterogeneous in nature ranging from mild to severe variant. We report a case of a 7-year-old boy with MR with self-inflicted severe oral injuries of cannibalistic nature presenting as cleft lip and palate. A more extensive research is needed on the problem behaviors in mentally retarded patients for early detection and effective and timely intervention leading to a better outcome.