A man was arrested in Odisha’s Balangir district after it was learnt that he pierced 18 syringes into the skull of a teenager four years ago to cure her of ailments. The victim, 19, reportedly lived with the syringes on her head for about four years before being spotted by her relatives.
The accused man was identified as Santosh Rana of Jamutjhula village, is a local tantrik. The family of the girl told Odisha media that they had taken her to Rana four years ago. She was very sick at that time and they decided to consult Rana after modern medicine reportedly failed to improve her condition.
It is alleged that the accused pierced as many as eighteen syringe needles into the head of the then-minor girl. Her family maintains that the man had spent about an hour alone with her during the "treatment" during which the needles should have been used. As the girl was sick, she fell unconscious and didn't realise what was being done to her, Odisha Bytes said in a report.
After four years, the girl's family finally spotted the presence of foreign objects on her head. On close inspection, they understood they were needles and removed as many as eight of them from the nineteen-year-old's head. They took her to the Bhima Bhoi Medical College, where a CT scan revealed the presence of at least ten more needles on her skull, Odisha Bytes added.
The family then lodged a complaint with the Kantabanji police who arrested Santosh Rana, the report added. The girl is undergoing treatment at the hospital.
