Watch: Scenes from a religious ritual in Punjab where devotees walk barefoot on red hot coals
During the ritual, a father lost his balance and dropped his six-year-old son onto the coals. The child suffered 15 per cent burns.
At a celebration of a festival ritual in the honour of the goddess Maa Maariamma, around 600 devotees gathered in Kazi Mandi in Jalandhar, the oldest city in Punjab. As one of the rituals, the followers of the goddess walk barefoot on a bed of coal.
Devotees are supposed to fast for a week before taking the barefoot walk.
One of the participants walked with his son, but unfortunately lost his balance and dropped his six-year-old son on the red hot coal. “The boy was admitted last (Sunday) night in the emergency ward. He has burn injuries on his limbs and on one side of his trunk. The father has also sustained about 15 per cent burns. I think it will take at least five to seven days for their wounds to heal.” Dr Jangpreet Singh told AFP.
Watch: How father drops son on hot coal well https://t.co/LBW7VcrYGf pic.twitter.com/x8BPAkVnNk
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The local BJP legislator Manoranjan Kalia, who visited the father and the son at the hospital said, "I have provided them a financial assistance of Rs 10,000 and sent them to Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences."
In 2013, too, a mother carrying her daughter had slipped on the hot coals while carrying out the ritual.
