Karnataka: Parents keep bodies of children under piles of salt for 6 hours to revive them

The parents had seen a video on social media which showed that if a body is kept under salt for more than five hours then the person would revive. However, as nothing happened after six hours, they cremated them. The boys had drowned while swimming on Sunday.

Haveri (Karnataka):Parents kept the bodies of their children, aged 11 and 12, covered in salt for six hours as they believed that they would be resurrected after coming across a video on social media. When nothing happened, they were cremated.

The incident took place in Galapuji village of Byadagi taluk of Karnataka's Haveri district on Sunday. But, the matter came to light on Tuesday. The deceased, Hemant (12) and and Nagaraj (11) drowned when they had gone for swimming in a lake in the village. After pulling out the bodies out of water, the parents covered them under two piles of salt.

Villagers said that a message was circulated on social media several months ago which stated that a dead person can be revived if he/she is kept under salt for five hours. "Miracles can happen anytime and since there is no harm in trying a trick, the couple decided to do what we had seen on social media. A few kilograms of salt was poured on the two bodies and kept them untouched for six hours," said a neighbour.

On information a team from Kaginele police station reached the spot. When nothing happened even after six hours, police tried to convince the parents to release the two bodies. Finally, the parents allowed the bodies to be taken away for cremation.

Last year, a similar incident occurred in Bellari in the state when the family members tried to revive their son by covering the body in salt. They left the body of their 10-year-old son under salt for four hours and finally cremated it after nothing happened. The boy had drowned in a pond. The villagers said that they had seen a social media post stating that the dead can be revived in this process.