The tragic death of a twenty-year-old man in Uttar Pradesh has cast a spotlight on the persistence of superstition in some parts of India once again. He was kept in a river after a snake bit him, as someone had told his family that keeping him in flowing water will wash away the snake poison.
Mohit Kumar, a resident of Jairampur Kudena village in the Anupshahar police station area of Bulandshahr, returned home after exercising his right to vote in the second phase of the elections on April 26. He visited a park in the evening where a snake bit him.
Despite efforts by his family to seek medical assistance, Kumar tragically succumbed to the venom during treatment. However, instead of accepting the medical verdict, Kumar’s family turned to superstition in a desperate bid to save him.
Believing in a local superstition that claims the Ganga river has the power to remove poison, Kumar’s family took the drastic step of submerging his body in the sacred waters. Crowds gathered on the banks of the Ganga, hoping against hope for a miraculous intervention.
Videos circulating online show Kumar’s body tied to a railing, as onlookers waited anxiously for signs of life. However, when it became evident that there was no hope of revival, Kumar’s family proceeded with his final rites, cremating him at the ghat (riverbank) of the Ganga.
