Shahdol (Madhya Pradesh): The prevalence of Dagna practice--using red hot iron for curing ailments--in tribal dominated the Shahdol area of Madhya Pradesh has become a cause for concern. Branding rituals were performed on an infant belonging to the Samatpur village of the district. The ritual was conducted on the girl child to provide her relief from breathing problems. Previously, Kathoutia village in the district hogged the headlines for a similar reason.
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It has been learnt from the sources that a three-month-old girl child underwent branding rituals using red hot iron several times on her body. But instead of improvement in her medical condition, the situation worsened. Alarmed over the deteriorating medical condition, the child's parents took her to Shahdol medical college and hospital for treatment. Not finding much improvement in the infant's health, the child was shifted to a private nursing home.
The child was suffering from a breathing problem. Before taking her to the medical college hospital, a quack's advice was sought in the matter. But performing the Dagna ritual on the child further aggravated her condition. The victim has been undergoing treatment at the private nursing with multiple burn injuries.
The ailing child's kin said, "We did not have a better medical treatment facility in the village. We are dependent on quack treatment. The quack was unable to provide relief to the child. We then took the child to Shahdol Medical College and Hospital. Not showing much improvement, we then shifted the child to a private nursing home where she has been undergoing treatment." "The infant has been suffering from breathing problems," they added.
