Nabarangpur: A blood-curdling superstition that has claimed the lives of several babies in the past returned to haunt the Nabarangpur district headquarters hospital here with another infant succumbing to burn injuries Monday.
The eight-month-old boy, identified by doctors as Chamal Dhan Gond, was admitted to the district headquarters hospital in a critical condition Saturday after being branded by his parents Friday in order to cure him of pneumonia. The baby boy died after suffering an unspeakable ordeal for four days, doctors who attended to him said.
Chamal, whose parents hailed from Mohabhatta village under Raighar block of Nabarangpur district, was suffering from pneumonia and was taken to a hospital in Hatabharandi last Monday by his father Ram Gond. However, there was no improvement in his condition.
Driven by superstition, Ram Gond branded his son with a blistering hot iron rod on eight places on his belly believing it would cure the boy of pneumonia. The boy’s condition soon took a turn for the worse.
The anxious parents then took the boy to a hospital in Umerkote, where doctors upon seeing his precarious condition referred him to the district headquarters hospital straightaway.
That however proved to be futile as Chamal succumbed Monday while undergoing treatment.
Shocking as the baby’s death was, such incidents are not uncommon in rural parts of the state. A 15-day-old girl of Budhha Kala of Doramba village under Ekamba panchayat of Jharigaon was also branded by a quack as she was suffering from a certain breathing disorder. The girl died January 24 at Nabarangpur DHH after suffering from septicemia due to branding.
Another girl named Deepali, daughter of Bona Majhi of Chiliguda village under Nandahandi block, was given scalding hot fomentation to cure her of pneumonia. Deepali sustained severe burn injuries and died at hospital January 13.
A toxic combination of illiteracy, ignorance and superstition has resulted in the practice of branding babies becoming deeply rooted in remote villages with parents routinely turning to quacks to treat children even for minor ailments. Several babies lose their lives while even the ones that escape with their lives are not as lucky as they are scarred for life.
The DHH here saw two similar cases recently, with babies dying of branding injuries January 13 and 24, hospital staffers said. PNN
