A ‘ring of fire‘ eclipse was seen in India yesterday between 8 am and 12.30 pm. Skygazers went to planetariums with solar filter glasses, photography enthusiasts captured the mesmerizing celestial event and the Twitterati gave it the meme treatment.
Unfortunately though, some parents from Kalaburagi, Karnataka, listened to the village elders and buried their disabled children in the mud during the eclipse hoping to ‘cure’ them with the sun’s rays. According to The Times of India, a total of 6 kids remained neck-deep in pits for the entire duration of the ‘grahan’ in villages of Tajsultanpur, Ainolli, and Gadi-Lingadalli.
According to Business Standard, Ashwini, an activist of Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane tipped off the district child protection task force who rescued the children, gave them medical assistance as well as counseling. News18 quoted Kalaburagi taluk tehsildar Mallesha saying,
“A girl and two boys were buried in neck-deep mud. We got information about the incident through a phone call. We rushed to the spot, took the children out of it and shifted them to a hospital. They are stable now. District administration will decide on what legal action needs to be taken.”
Reports suggest that the district administration will have the children undergo surgeries within two weeks. An orthopedic surgeon named Dr. S. Kamareddy has volunteered to perform them on two kids from Kalaburagi free of cost. The third is too young to go under the knife.