Send ‘child goddess’ to school: rights body to parents

The Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission on Monday directed that ‘child-goddess’ Sambhavi, who her parents claim possesses ‘supernatural’ powers, should be sent to school within a week.

The Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission on Monday directed that ‘child-goddess’ Sambhavi, who her parents claim possesses ‘supernatural’ powers, should be sent to school within a week. Justice B. Subhashan Reddy, chairman of the commission, ruled that the eight-year-old had the right to proper education, which she was being deprived of by her parents.

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“The parents, Usharani and Soumyacharya, must send their daughter to school latest by June 21. They should not assume that the girl possesses supernatural or divine powers,” Reddy said in his ruling on petitions filed by a group of rationalists and human rights activists.

Reddy directed Kurnool district collector to take responsibility to enroll the girl in school.

Sambhavi hit the limelight in August last year when she claimed to be the Dalai Lama’s disciple in her previous birth. She started making predictions and came to be known as little Dalai Lama.

Within a few months, hundreds started visiting her ashram at the temple town of Suryanandi in Kurnool district, seeking her blessings.

However, members of Andhra Pradesh Atheists Association moved the SHRC charging that unscrupulous people with vested interests were exploiting Sambhavi’s childhood and holding her a prisoner.