NHRC seeks report on child branding

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the state government on the issue of branding kids with iron rods, heated nails and wires in some parts of Kutch and Rajkot districts.

The commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the issue and asked the state government to give a report on the same.

The Commission observed: “The contents of the press report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of children.”

It has issued notices to the state chief secretary, calling for a report. The chief secretary has been asked to inform the NHRC where such inhuman custom is prevalent in the state.

The government has also been asked to submit the steps taken by it and the action taken by the administration to prevent such practices from taking place in society.

As part of an age-old practice, children, mostly in the age group of 0-15, are branded more than once for different ailments, using hot iron rods, hot nails and wires or incense sticks in some areas of these two districts.

Though this has been going on for a long time, the administration has failed to take any steps to control it.

In Vagad region of Kutch, malaria, tuberculosis and water-and air-born diseases are prevalent round the year. To cure these diseases, villagers practice branding in different ways. For pneumonia, it is the chest; in case of malaria and jaundice, it is the abdomen; in meningitis or brain or head-related ailments, it is the forehead.

The residents believe that the custom has its roots in the treatment of domestic animals like cows and buffaloes, which are cured of their septic boils or wounds by applying red hot iron rod.

But gradually, the practice invaded into the life of human beings, especially children. It attained a kind of religious sanctity among the illiterate village folks, mainly from the backward community.