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Toddler branded with heated rod to avert black magic

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PANCHTHAR, Jan 20: A 14-month-old was branded with a heated spatula and metal rod to ward off witchcraft in northern Oyam VDC Ward No. 1, Panchthar district. Local samans, or jhakris, Suka Bahadur Khalin and Til Bahadur Rai branded Dipsan Rai, who was sick with diarrhea, on his left buttock on January 8. The jhakris said he was a victim of witchcraft.

Seriously injured toddler hasn't received any treatment even 12 days after the incident. On the contrary, the incident was kept a secret. The child was made to sit on a heated stone and then branded with a heated spatula and iron rod.


The toddler's father Dhan Bahadur Rai and mother Urmila Rai were ready to let their child undergo such torture as the jhakris said his illness would be healed, according to locals. Dipsan has sustained serious burn injuries.

According to witnesses, the jhakris didn't let go of the child even though he was screaming out aloud in agony.

The condition of the child has become worrisome as his injuries have started to fester. He is said to be unable to make leg movements because of pain. His family, which is mired in poverty, did not publicize the incident because of sheer fallacy.

According to a local, Milan Rai, the incident only became public during a meeting of the Wada Nagarik Manch, or Ward Citizen Forum. The local administration remains unaware of it.

President of Ward Nagarik Manch Indra Bahadur Rai informed that they have been discussing how to provide treatment for the toddler. He also informed that the villagers, who went to jhakri Suka Bhahadur's house after the incident, were shooed away by family members




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