In a gruesome incident, a two-month-old baby girl has been branded with a hot iron rod to ‘cure’ her of cough and cold.
The infant girl is under treatment at the District Hospital in Porbandar.
The incident was reported from Porbandar on Sunday when mother of the infant took her to a quack after she did not respond to normal line of treatment for cough and cold.
The quack, Devraj Katara got the infant girl branded with a hot iron rod, giving her severe burn injuries.
The baby’s father rushed the injured infant to the hospital and lodged complaints against his wife and the quack.
Though Gujarat claims to have a fairly good health infrastructure, such grim news about quacks and ‘tantriks’ (black magicians) practising unconventional treatments are not uncommon.
In October last year, a 14-year-old girl was sacrificed in Dhava village of Gir Somnath district on the advice of a ‘tantrik’ who opined that an ‘evil spirit’ in her was responsible for the family’s financial problems.
The infant’s mother and the quack who branded the baby with a hot iron rod have been booked under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Juvenile Justice Act.