VIJAYAPURA: A Hindu family was reportedly prevented from converting to Christianity after BLDE Hospital extended help for the treatment of their three-year-old son suffering from Thalassemia.
Iranna Nagur (34), an employee of a dhaba (hotel) and a resident of Basavana Bagewadi, was struggling to provide proper medical treatment to his only son because of poor financial conditions. He has already spent over Rs 3 lakh for the treatment of his son.
He even toured most of the cities in South India in search of better medical treatment for his ailing son. However, a hospital in Vellore of Tamil Nadu run by a Christian Missionary reportedly had assured of helping him on certain conditions, including offering prayers at church for at least two months.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Iranna pointed out, “I was exhausted as I could not get any financial support from anywhere for the treatment of my son. I used to earn Rs 12,000 per month but I was forced to spend nearly half of the earnings for the medical treatment of my son..”
“When I had been to the hospital in Vellore, they promised me of making all the arrangements, including Rs 10 lakh for the bone marrow surgery of my son with the condition of offering daily prayers at church.”
“The talks were also held about the conversion to Christianity. I was determined to accept Jesus because the hospital authorities had promised to take care of all the medical expenses of my son,” detailed Iranna who has three children including two daughters.
The family has now dropped the plans of converting to Christianity after Congress MLA M B Patil, who is also the chairman of BLDE Association, came to know about the family’s plight and directed the officials of BLDE Hospital to provide treatment for free.