In 2019, the Indian child protection division rescued more than five physically challenged children from their superstitious parents who buried them in a cow dung neck-deep during a solar eclipse.
These parents at Tajsultanpur village in the outskirts of Kalaburagi City believed that their action which is a tradition in the area would cure their children from their challenges.
One of the parents of the children told reporters that the dung where they buried the children up to the neck turns holy and it attains magical power during the solar eclipse and burying the kids in it would make them normal.
Another woman said that village elders had suggested her to do so.
Soon after hearing the news, some members — attached to a progressive thinking group and district child protection officer, Bheemaraya — rushed to the spot and removed the children from the pit.
The children were taken to the hospital where an orthopedist offered to perform surgeries on the children for free.
The practices prevailed in the Darga area in Kalaburagi a decade back and were stopped only after strict police vigilance.
However, it is still practiced in small communities throughout India.
