A two-month-old baby girl was hospitalised after she was allegedly branded with a hot iron rod by a "self-styled doctor" to treat her for cough in Gujarat's Porbandar district, police said on Sunday.
The quack was arrested on Sunday and an FIR was registered against him and the child's mother, Deputy Superintendent of Police Surjeet Mahedu said. The baby has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a government hospital. She is under observation and her condition is reported to be stable, he said.
"The baby suffered from cough and phlegm a week ago and her parents tried a local cure at home, but she did not get relief. Thereafter, the child's mother took her to one Devrajbhai Katara," Mahedu said.
Katara allegedly branded the baby with a hot iron rod on her chest and stomach. When she did not get relief, the parents took the child to Bhavsinhji General Hospital in Porbandar and the matter came to light, he said. Based on a complaint by the infant's father, an FIR was registered against Katara and the baby's mother under Indian Penal Code Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by means of any instrument likely to cause death) and other provisions, the official said.
The condition of the baby, who was admitted in the ICU of the hospital in Porbandar, was stable, he said. Dr Jai Badiyani from the general hospital told mediapersons that the baby was brought to the medical facility on February 9 with breathing complications. "She was put on oxygen support in the ICU. During the treatment we found that she was branded on chest...This increased her complications," he said.
Earlier this month, a two-and-a-half-month-old girl died in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district after allegedly being branded with a hot iron rod more than 50 times by an exorcist, police had said. Another case where a 3-month-old girl was branded with a hot iron rod had also came to light in Shahdol, they said.
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