Indian student named world's shortest living woman

NAGPUR, India (AFP) An Indian student measuring just 62.8 centimetres (less than two foot, one inch) was on Friday confirmed as the world's shortest living woman, Guinness World Records said on Friday. Jyoti Amge took the title as she celebrated her 18th birthday with family and friends in the city of Nagpur, some 520 kilometres (320 miles) east of Mumbai in western India.

Rob Molloy, official adjudicator for Guinness World Records, told AFP: "She's 62.8 centimetres. She was measured three times over the last 24 hours as height can vary slightly according to the time of day.

"Doctors measured her in our presence at three different times, both standing up and lying down. We took an average."

Amge, who is currently also the world's shortest teenager, wept with joy as she was presented with a certificate watched by her father, Kisan, 55, and mother, Ranjana, 50.

The teenager, wearing a traditional sari, said: "I'm very happy to get this record."

Molloy said he was honoured to witness the record: "It's such a symbolic record and one of the most popular.

"I've worked at Guinness World Records for eight years and I feel quite proud that I was the one to oversee the presentation of the certificate."

Amge, who has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia that has restricted her height to that of an average four-month-old baby girl, has just finished her high school exams.She has expressed hopes of becoming a Bollywood actress, her father said.

The previous holder of the world's shortest living woman title was 69.49-centimtre-tall (two foot, three inch) Bridgette Jordan, from the US state of Illinois, Molloy said.