Rajkot: Infant dies 3 days after being branded with hot rod for not relieving himself

“During examination, we noticed that he did not have anus opening and therefore, he was not able to pass stool. His relatives said that he was branded with the hot iron rod on the abdomen as is the practice in their community and the branding had left a burn injury on his stomach. However, the baby seemed fine as he was not vomiting or demonstrating any other adverse symptoms. Therefore, the next day, we performed colostomy and helped the child pass stool. However, later on, the patient contracted infection and died on Thursday evening. The patient could have contracted infection at home or at hospital and therefore, we cannot conclusively say that the patient died due to burn injury caused by branding,” said a doctor of the hospital, requesting anonymity.

The doctor further said that the baby boy was born without a rectum, which, he said was a case of genetic deformity.
Paddhari police sub-inspector Jayesh Vadhiya said that they have registered a case of accidental death. “The family is saying that branding is a common practice in their community to cure child of diseases but possibly the child was just a few days old and could not have been able to handle the trauma. Nonetheless, we are waiting for post-mortem report. If any criminality is revealed, we will file a case,” said Vadhiya.