Boy dies of snakebite; kept in Ganga river for hours in ‘healing’ ritual

BIJNOR: A 13-year-old boy allegedly died after a snakebite because his family resorted to a superstitious ritual instead of taking him to the hospital, police said on Sunday. Villagers said Amit Kumar, who was bitten by a snake on Thursday, was taken to the banks of the Ganga. There, he was tied up and kept in flowing water for nearly 12 hours as part of a ritual believed to cure snakebite. Amit died on Saturday.“The child was never brought to a govt hospital for treatment,” said CHC in-charge Dr Shashank Chaudhary, adding that he could have been saved if he had been brought in time. Adampur SHO Komal Tomar said no formal complaint had been filed so far and the incident came to light after a video surfaced on social media. “We have begun investigating the case,” Tomar added.