Children branded with hot iron to cure illness: 2 deaths reported in MP, faith healer booked

The services of two ASHA workers and a supervisor were terminated in the wake of these two incidents, while the faith healer has been booked.

Shahdol, Feb 05: Shahdol district in Madhya Pradesh has reported its second child death allegedly due to branding with a hot iron as part of a woman faith healer's traditional method to cure ailments, officials said on Sunday.

A 3-month-old girl who was admitted in the government-run medical college here on Wednesday and shifted to a private facility for treatment after being branded 20 times with a hot iron, died late Saturday night, Chief Medical and Health Officer RK Pandey said.

The child has been identified as Shubhi Kol, daughter of Suraj Kol, a resident of Samatpur village under Sinhpur police station limits, he added. On Friday, the body of a two-and-half-month-old girl was exhumed after dying in similar circumstances. The infant's mother, a resident of Kathotia village in Sinhpur, had told authorities the child was unwell and she took her to a woman faith healer who branded her more than 50 times with a hot iron.

The child died in Shahdol Medical College on Wednesday, officials had earlier said. On Sunday, officials said the services of two ASHA workers and a supervisor were terminated in the wake of these two incidents, while the faith healer has been booked.

A case has been registered against the 40-year-old woman faith healer under Indian Penal Code and Drugs and Magic Remedies Act provisions but she is yet to be arrested, Sinhpur police station in charge MP Ahirwar said. Meanwhile, district collector Vandana Vaidya said awareness was being created against the tradition of getting children branded with hot iron to cure ailments. The post mortem report of the child whose body was exhumed on Friday will be available in seven days, she added.