10-month-old girl dies after being branded by iron rod

Jaipur: Superstition claimed the life of a 10-month-old girl who was branded with an iron rod allegedly by her grandfather to “cure” her of a severe cough and cold.

The girl, Asha, from Gujjaro ke Kheda village in Bhilwara, breathed her last at a hospital in Ajmer where she was referred from Bhilwara district hospital on Saturday night, Raipur Bhilwara police said.

A case has been registered under various IPC sections and further investigation is on.

According to the police, the child was suffering from severe cough and fever from past several days. When her health did not improve even after medication, the victim’s grandfather allegedly branded her with a hot iron rod, which left her unconscious.

“The victim’s father Manohar Rawat rushed her to Bhilwara district hospital in critical condition from where she was referred to Ajmer.

“Post mortem was done today by a medical board in the matter. We are interrogating family members and the accused will be nabbed soon,” SHO Raipur Bhilwara, Khivraj Gujjar told PTI.

He said that this is not the first case in Bhilwara where superstition has snuffed out the life of innocent children.

Nearly a dozen cases of branding children have come to light in the last three months.

—PTI