Hot iron branding- an age old ritual still rampant in India.

Representative Image

Branding is a superstitious traditional practice commonly employed in tribal dominated districts  of India to treat some diseases in children and women.

Branding is a process by which a mark or symbol using a hot iron is burned into the skin of a living person creating a permanent scar. The technique is similar to livestock branding. In the olden days, it was used for the purpose of enslaving people. Slaves were branded by their master to make sure they don’t escape.

In some tribal dominated areas of rural India, the villagers trust the quacks more than the doctors and have their children treated by them. Children below 5 years are branded for pneumonia, fever, jaundice and other ailments.  Sometime these burns which are third degree burns are known to cause excruciating pain which further lead to infections and permanent nerve damage.  Over the years several kinds have succumbed to this barbaric practice.

Despite it being illegal, the practice of of branding is still rampant.  There are stringent laws and it is a criminal offence under the section 324 of the Indian Penal Code.