Nagpur: NGO Wildlife Welfare Society (WWS) claimed that ‘bua baazi’ has taken the lives of three women after their families took them to traditional healers instead of seeking modern medicine to treat them in Ramtek.
Armed with a recent sting operation video, the NGO submitted a representation to collector Vipin Itankar who assured to check the supernatural healing methods in the tehsil, 40 kms from Nagpur.
The NGO said that they had recorded the deaths of three women but many more have died of snake bite in Ramtek as bua baazi has been going on unchecked.
Recently, the WWS volunteers, including its secretary Nitish Bhandakkar, took one of their members to a tantrik to get a snake bite treated.
“We pricked a needle on his skin to portray it as a snake bite. The tantrik started reciting some mantras and used a broom and smoke to flush out venom,” he said.
Bhandakkar said a 42-year-old woman from Sawara village died on May 17 followed by another 27-year-old from Tuyapar on June 26 and a 28-year old from Neemtola. The WWS members were contacted by some alert villagers but their families didn’t shift the victims to hospital.
“Every time we received information about a snake bite victim, we called up their relatives to convince them about the risk of not seeking medical treatment. Most of them would agree over phone but they would not heed our advice. Some reached the hospital late,” he said.
The WWS has demanded action against such traditional healers. The NGO said it has so far saved the lives of at least 100 snake bite victims by bringing them to medical colleges in Nagpur on time where they were administered anti-venom injections.
Armed with a recent sting operation video, the NGO submitted a representation to collector Vipin Itankar who assured to check the supernatural healing methods in the tehsil, 40 kms from Nagpur.
The NGO said that they had recorded the deaths of three women but many more have died of snake bite in Ramtek as bua baazi has been going on unchecked.
Recently, the WWS volunteers, including its secretary Nitish Bhandakkar, took one of their members to a tantrik to get a snake bite treated.
“We pricked a needle on his skin to portray it as a snake bite. The tantrik started reciting some mantras and used a broom and smoke to flush out venom,” he said.
Bhandakkar said a 42-year-old woman from Sawara village died on May 17 followed by another 27-year-old from Tuyapar on June 26 and a 28-year old from Neemtola. The WWS members were contacted by some alert villagers but their families didn’t shift the victims to hospital.
“Every time we received information about a snake bite victim, we called up their relatives to convince them about the risk of not seeking medical treatment. Most of them would agree over phone but they would not heed our advice. Some reached the hospital late,” he said.
The WWS has demanded action against such traditional healers. The NGO said it has so far saved the lives of at least 100 snake bite victims by bringing them to medical colleges in Nagpur on time where they were administered anti-venom injections.
