Rajasthan villagers perform rituals in government hospital

They beat drum so that they could take the soul back with them.

In a bizarre case, villagers in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district conducted rituals and beat drums for three hours on the premises of a government hospital in the belief it would drive out the soul of their dead relative.

The incident happened at MG Hospital on Saturday where a relative of some of the villagers had died sometime back. Doctors said villagers performed the ritual in their belief that they could take the soul back with them.

“Villagers believe that the soul of their dead relative wanders on the hospital premises and performed rituals so that it rests in peace and family members live in peace,” said principal medical officer K.C. Panwar.

“We will issue an advisory for family members to not perform such activities on hospital premises,” Dr. Panwar said.

Rooster sacrificed

ADM (City) Anandilal Vaishnav and SP Pradeep Mohan Sharma had inquired about the incident from hospital authorities, hospital police post sources said.

This is the second such case which has come to light in the State. Last week a rooster was sacrificed, lemons quashed and rituals performed by an occult practitioner at a government hospital in Kota in a futile bid to bring a dead man back.

Following the incident, which happened in the presence of medical staff, the hospital had appointed a committee of three members to probe the matter.