BHOPAL: The Singhpur police on Monday arrested 'faith healer' Ramvatia Charmakar in connection with the death of two tribal babies.
The babies died after Ramvatia singed them with a hot iron rod and black bangles to cure them of pneumonia.
The babies -- two and three months old-- died on February 1 and February 4 at two different hospitals in Shahdol district.
The Shahdol district superintendent of police Kumar Pratik said a probe will be conducted to look into the possibility of the involvement of others in the case and action will be taken accordingly.
A few hours before her arrest Ramvatia admitted before journalists in her native Samatpur village that she performed Daagna in a bid to "cure" the baby girls in Kathautiya and Samatpur village after being asked by their parents.
“It’s not just me, but 10 other women in both the villages, including my sisters-in-law, who are furthering this age-old superstitious tradition of Daagna. But what can we do, it’s the parents who call us to their homes and get Daagna on their infant babies done. If I’m being arrested for it, why are the police sparing the parents of two infants, who called us to their homes and got the act of singing done with their babies. It’s only after clearance from village panchayat sarpanchs and secretaries that we venture into villages on the call of parents of infants,” Ramvatia told journalists at her house in Samatpur village.
She also claimed that never had any ASHA worker or any other government staff come to them, asking to stop the practice of Daagna.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that two to three more infants (who had been poked in abdomen with hot objects by faith healer women in the recent past) have been admitted at Shahdol district hospital and Shahdol Medical College Hospital. The condition of one of the infants, aged around two months, is stated to be critical.