Infant dies after branded with hot iron bangles in Odisha

A 28-day-old baby boy has died after being branded with hot iron bangles to cure him of an ailment in Nabarangpur district, officials said today.

The infant died yesterday, around three hours after he was admitted to the district headquarters hospital, the Additional District Medical Officer (Medical), Sanjit Patnaik, said.

The baby boy was suffering from acute breathing problem yesterday night and his condition was critical, Patnaik said.

The infant, a resident of Petuguda village in Papadahandi block of the district, was suffering from a stomach ailment, police said.

He was branded with hot iron bangles by a villager a few days ago instead of being taken to hospital, the police said.

When the baby's condition deteriorated, his parents brought him to the district headquarters hospital yesterday night, a police officer said.

The infant was admitted to the hospital in very critical condition and the doctors tried their best to save him, the ADMO said.

Soon after the baby's death, Papadahandi police seized the body and sent it for post-mortem examination, the police officer said.

A similar incident had taken place in the district in the last week of June, in which a six-month-old baby boy of Khutiguda village, in the same Papadahandi block, had died after being branded with a hot iron bangle.