Superstitions galore: Specially-abled kids buried neck-deep during solar eclipse
While the country witnessed a celestial spectacle today, the last solar eclipse of the decade turned out to be traumatic for some specially-abled kids in Karnataka. Three kids of Taj Sultanpur village, situated on the outskirts of Kalaburagi City, were buried neck-deep in mud by their parents to "cure them" of deformities. Blindly following a custom, the parents believed it would help the kids.
The buried kids included a three-year-old
Reportedly, the children (one girl and two boys) are aged three, eight, and eleven. To their fortune, authorities were informed about this malpractice through a phone call and a tehsildar immediately saved them. "We rushed to the spot, took the children out of it and shifted them to a hospital. They are stable now," said Kalaburagi taluk tehsildar Mallesha told News 18.
Police will conduct an inquiry, assured Deputy Commissioner
Separately, B. Sharath, the Deputy Commissioner of the district, said, "We have rescued the children and asked the police to conduct an inquiry in the matter. We will also conduct an awareness drive to not get involved in such superstitious practices."
This practice was believed to have died down
As it turns out, Taj Sultanpur isn't the only village where kids had to endure pain. Similar incidents were reported from Ainoli village and Arjunagi village of Afzalpur taluk. As per NIE, this practice prevailed in Darga area of the district a decade ago, but it died down due to awareness and vigilance. The recent episode, however, confirms it is a deep-rooted problem.
This morning, people saw the "ring of fire"
On a related note, people along the southern coast of India saw the annular solar eclipse. An annular solar eclipse is one in which the new moon is farther away from the Earth in its elliptical orbit and doesn't cover the sun completely. As a result, a "ring of fire" is formed. The eclipse started at 8:17 am and ended at 10:57 am.
