Shahdol: A three-month-old baby girl, Ruchita Kol died in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh after she was allegedly poked with a hot iron 51 times on the stomach. The baby was suffering from pneumonia and the healer jabbed her by a hot rod 51 times claiming it to be treated.
The child’s health deteriorated and she was eventually sent to Shahdol Medical College, where she died during the treatment. When the women and child development officials arrived at the hospital, they discovered that such tragic example of blind faith occurred 15 days ago too. Parents had buried the body, which will be removed for a postmortem today.
Poking hot rods is becoming fatal in tribal-dominated areas of Madhya Pradesh as people continue to blind faith local healers. Being poked is believed as a way to alleviate pain, but the real problem is that the infection can supersede, resulting death.