A 7-month-old infant was reportedly seared with a hot iron by an occultist, to cure the child of fever and cold. The incident happened in Bhilwara in the Mewar region of Rajasthan, India.
The infant was reportedly undergoing treatment at a government dispensary for his fever and cold. On Thursday, the boy's mother attended a religious ceremony to pray for her ailing son. At the religious ceremony, someone allegedly advised the victim's mother to take her son to the occultist for treatment, The Times of India reported.
Following the person's advice, the victim's father Shambhu Bheel, who hails from Nemanch in Madhya Pradesh, India and his wife, both laborers, and residing in the Dadabari colony of Bhilwara, took their baby to the tantric in a village for treatment. However, the tantric allegedly seared the baby with a hot iron as part of the treatment and worsened the baby's health condition. Following this, the infant was immediately rushed to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital of Bhilwara in critical condition for immediate treatment, Times Now reported.
Following the incident, the police officers recorded the parent's statements and registered a case against the occultist. They have launched a search operation to nab the accused, who has been absconding since the incident.
In a similar but unrelated incident, a woman was allegedly beaten to death with a hot iron chain by an exorcist and her relatives to “free her from the influence of an angry deity." The incident reportedly happened in Devbhumi-Dwarka district of Gujarat, India on Wednesday.
On the fateful day, the victim Ramila Solanki and her husband Vala, reportedly came to a village near Dwarka town to celebrate Navratri (a Hindu festival in India). During the festival, the victim suddenly started shaking and started behaving as if she was possessed. Noticing her strange behavior, the accused exorcist Solanki allegedly warned everyone that she would kill them all and advised them to thrash her to free her from the influence of an angry deity, according to News18.
The accused, along with the victim's relatives, reportedly started branding her with firewood, and took turns to beat her using a hot iron chain, and eventually killed her.
Following the incident, the victim's husband reportedly registered a complaint at the police station. Based on his complaint, the police officers have arrested all five accused involved in the alleged attack including the exorcist Solanki and the woman’s relatives Arjun Solanki, Versi Solanki, Manu Solanki, and Bhavesh Solanki on charges of murder.
