Gujarat: Parents get seven-month old branded by tantrik for ‘cure’

A video that surfaced on social media Sunday showed a cross-mark branding on the chest of the toddler along with a straight-line branded below her navel. The child belongs to the Thakore community and her parents are farmers.

Taking cognisance of the video, police have launched an investigation.

“We have sent a team to the village where the girl child lives. Due action will be taken once our initial probe is finished,” a police Inspector in charge of the investigation said.

Sources say that the police will file a first information report against the parents and the tantrik. When police complete their investigation, the district child welfare officer will register a complaint.

The doctor supervising the child spoke to The Indian Express and said they had determined that the child has a heart problem. “She has had a hole in her heart since birth and she has breathing issues due to it,” the doctor who is treating her said. “The child has been operated on and she is out of danger now.

The burn marks (from the branding) are luckily only superficial and she will be discharged soon. We have told her parents to bring her back after seven days, after which the treatment for her heart condition will then begin.”