2-month old branded with hot iron in Nabarangpur; woman quack held

Nabarangpur: In the latest incident of its kind in a series of such cases in this tribal dominated district over the last few weeks, a two-month old was branded with hot iron at Khuntiaguda village under Tentulikhunti block of the district. A woman quack was arrested after the matter came to fore.

The family members of the child called the woman quack, identified as Sunamani Dash, after seeing a protruding vein on the stomach of their baby boy. The quack branded the baby boy with a hot iron after which the child’s condition deteriorated.

With no help from the quack treatment, the family members of the child admitted him to Tentulikhunti community health centre. Later, he was shifted to the Nabarangpur district headquarters hospital.

Meanwhile, the woman quack was forwarded to a local court after her arrest today.

Sunamani said, “There is no ASHA or Anganwadi worker present in our area. I administered the baby iron branding to cure his ailment,” adding that she had not heard about any government campaign on stopping the practice.

Reacting to the case, RN Patnaik, OIC, Khatiguda police station, said, “The Tentulikhunti CDPO got a complaint yesterday on basis of which we registered a case. The investigation is on.”