It is a different kind of fetish all together for 32-year-old Nazim Baig of Lucknow, who munches about 20kg of vegetables daily, plucked straight from the fields, just to satisfy his appetite.

But his neighbors are not a happy lot, because Nazim steals the vegetables from their farms every night and often consumes them during dusk.

The Asian Age today reported that Nazim, who lives in Maulaganj village, about 90 km from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, eats about 15 to 20 kg of raw vegetables daily, when everyone is asleep.

A local doctor interviewed by the newspaper described the villager's eating habit as a "psychological disorder" that needs to be examined but Nazim says it is an "addiction" and he eats to live.

"Ever since I was a child, I developed a liking for uncooked food, particularly vegetables. I can also eat raw meat and raw eggs but I prefer vegetables," he told Asian Age.

Nazim also admitted that since he could not afford to buy huge amounts of vegetables daily, he decided to steal them at night from the neighborhood fields.

Initially, local villagers reported the incident to the police but the cops refused to register a case against Nazim and laughed it off, as they could not recover any stolen vegetable from him.

Now, farmers have learned to live with their weird but harmless fellow villager, who only steals fresh veggies to satisfy his hunger, said the paper.