PHULBANI: Service of four security guards of the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) here was terminated and a sorcerer Hadi Pradhan of Arabaka village under Tikabali police station was arrested on Monday. The action comes four days after Hadi had tried to resurrect a man, who had died of snake bite, by performing black magic on the premises of the DHH.
The man, Golak Behera of Nediguda under Khajuripada police limits, was bitten by a snake on Thursday morning and was declared dead by the medical officer of DHH. His relatives, though, did not believe the doctor and called the sorcerer. While Behera's body was placed on a stretcher in the corridor of the hospital, Hadi sacrificed a black hen over the dead body. He then conducted rituals and prayers that continued for four hours.
During this period, a large crowd had gathered, that included the medical staff, in the corridor to witness Hadi's attempts to resurrect the dead. When he failed to bring Behera back to life, the latter's relatives allowed the doctors to conduct post-mortem.
Police had said as there was a huge gathering, they could not take any action against Hadi or prevent him from practising black magic considering the religious beliefs of relatives of the deceased. Following the incident, the Collector issued show cause notices to Additional District Medical Officer Mamata Mohapatra and Medical Manager Bijayalaxmi Patra and directed the police authority to take action against the sorcerer. After the directive, service of the four security officers who were on duty then was terminated and the sorcerer was arrested from his village. Police registered case under Sections of IPC and Witchcraft Act against the sorcerer and forwarded him to the court.
Mohapatra in her report to the Collector blamed the security guards for the incident that disrupted health services in the DHH for four hours.