Nabarangpur: Two fresh cases of baby girls being branded came to light Friday from Challipata village of Khutubai panchayat under Papadahandi block in Nabarangpur district.
Pushpalata Gochhayat, a woman health worker, came to know of the cases during a door-to-door vaccination programme and immediately admitted the children to the district headquarters hospital. Both the children, who have been kept in the SNCU of the hospital, are recuperating, hospital sources said.
According to reports, a quack branded a 22-day-old girl 15 times on her stomach five days back. The girl, daughter of Jamuma and Rajendra Bhatra, has now developed a swollen stomach, her parents said, adding the quack branded the baby with hot bangles.
Similarly, a month-old baby of Sambhari and Chaitanya Kalar was branded on 14 places for some perceived ailment. Though Sambhari was unable to recall the name of the quack, he is said to be a resident of Mirgan Sahi, she said.
Health worker Puspalata said she went to their houses Friday on the vaccination day but was shocked to see the children with burn injuries. She immediately rushed the girls to the DHH.
According to sources, the state government is pumping in huge amount of funds to check social maladies like branding. However, the administration is not considering the issue seriously enough, locals alleged. While officials who have been assigned to check branding cases hardly visit interior areas of their districts, the lackadaisical attitude of the subordinate health officials results in shooting up of such cases, villagers added. PNN
