Family refuses to cremate snakebite victim in Gaya

GAYA: Even three days after the death of a young man due to snakebite, his family members have refused to cremate him in the hope of some miracle promised by a faith healer. Police reached their house, but the family did not allow them to enter the room where the body is kept with a holy book placed on his chest.
Pappu Kumar (23) from Rauna under Konch police station in Gaya district died of snakebite on Wednesday.Reports say local doctors pronounced him dead. But the family members refused to admit the reality and approached a faith healer who promised some miracle. Nobody is allowed inside the room except the faith healer and Pappu’s father Rambali Parjapati.
On Friday, a police team reached the village to get the body cremated. But the cops returned as the family did not allow them to visit the room where the body has been kept.
Konch SHO Abhishekh Kumar Singh said the victim’s father told the police that he did not believe that his son was dead and would perform the last rites only after being convinced about it. Right now, the faith healer was doing his job and the father did not want to go against his diktats.
When contacted on Saturday, sub-divisional magistrate of Tekari, Manoj Kumar, said he was not aware of any such incident. Now that it has been brought to his notice, Kumar said he would seek a report from the circle officer and take follow-up action.