Rajasthan govt takes action against doctor seen slapping ‘possessed’ woman

The doctor pulled the woman by her hair and slapped her two-three times.

The Rajasthan government has put a doctor in Barmer under Awaiting Posting Order (APO) status after he was found curing a “possessed” woman by slapping her and burning incense sticks (agarbatti) in front of her.

In the video circulating on social media, a doctor is seen pulling a woman patient (face blurred to protect identity) by her hair and then slapping her, allegedly to exorcise her of evil spirits, at the Barmer district hospital in Rajasthan.(Video Grab)

The incident occurred on Wednesday when the woman was brought to the government hospital in a semi-conscious condition.

Dr Surendra Bahri, after talking to the family who claimed that she was “possessed” and needed treatment, slapped her two-three times.

“He is a qualified doctor and what he was doing is not in any way part of medical sciences. He should have tried to treat her medically rather than adopting these techniques. We have put him under APO,” a senior Medical & Heath Department official told IANS.