BHAWANIPATNA: In yet another case of dominance of witchcraft in remote rural areas of the state, a sorcerer was allowed to enter the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) in Bhawanipatna and try his mumbo-jumbo to bring a snakebite victim back to life.
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A 21-year-old youth of Dumermunda village under Kesinga block, Satish Gopal was bitten by a snake in the morning. His family members rushed him to Kesinga hospital from where he was shifted to the DHH. He died during treatment and the body was kept in mortuary for postmortem.
His family members, however, brought a sorcerer who claimed to resurrect Satish through witchcraft. Although hospital authorities protested, they forced their way into the mortuary, took out the body and started performing witchcraft.
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Meanwhile, the DHH administration informed police who rushed to the spot and asked the family members to send the body for postmortem. When the villagers refused to do so, there was a scuffle between them and the police.
The villagers were then forced to vacate the DHH premises and postmortem was conducted. Assistant District Medical Officer, Jagulal Agarwal said despite being stopped by the security guard, the deceased’s family members forced their way into the mortuary and performed some rituals.
“They were asked to leave the campus by police”, he said, adding that the youth was referred to DHH at 8.30 am for suspected snake bite and he died after being brought to the hospital.