In yet another incident of infant death due to superstitious practices, a fifteen-day-old baby girl died at Nabarangpur district headquarters hospital (DHH) on Monday morning after being pressed with hot bangles.
According to reports, the parents of the infant, Budu Kalar and Bindu Kalar, hailing from Gorama village under Jharigaon block in the district, took the baby to a disari (traditional healer) of Sinaguda under Umerkote to cure stomach ailment.
There the disari pressed hot bangles to the baby following which her condition started to deteriorate. The parents first rushed her to the Umerkote hospital first. However, as there was no child specialist, the doctor referred the patient to the district headquarters hospital. On Sunday she was admitted at Special Neo-natal Care Unit (SNCU) of the DHH in a critical condition. She had developed acute septicaemia, said doctor Dharani Ranjan Satpathy.
The infant died while undergoing treatment within some hours after she was shifted to the hospital despite best efforts from us to save her, added Dr Satpathy.
Meanwhile, Collector Rashmita Panda formed a four- member committee with the District Child Protection Officer, Probation Officer of DSWO, Tehsildar and CDPO of Jharigam to inquire the matter and accordingly take appropriate action. As per the direction of the committee, the father of the infant and also supervisor of Jharigam lodged separate complaints before the Umerkote police and disari Sukmati Kalar was arrested.
Though there are problems in our healthcare system, people still trust the witch doctors for treating the newborns. Just a few months back, a 6- month-old baby was pressed with hot iron rod at Kosagumuda, who was suffering from fever.
The inhuman and painful practice is rampant in some pockets of Nabarangpur district due to lack of awareness against its ill-effects. The common belief is that it heals diseases. Children, mostly in the age-group of 0-15, are pressed more than once for different ailments with hot iron rods, nails, wires or incense sticks, said sources.
“We have been organising awareness meetings through child protection committees in each gram panchayat. It’s difficult to change the age-old superstitious practices among people. We are trying to change but behavioural changes take time,” said district Collector Panda.