‘Holy water that protects against Covid' rumour draws crowd to Rajgarh temple

Defying COVID-19 norms, a large number of people gathered at a village here in Madhya Pradesh under the belief that a woman, supposedly blessed by a Goddess, can protect them from the viral infection, police said on Thursday. Following the gathering of over 150 people on Tuesday at Chatukheda village in Rajgarh, police registered a case against the woman and three other persons under the IPC and the Disaster Management Act, Khujner police station in-charge Umesh Yadav said. A video of the incident went viral on social media in which a temple priest was purportedly heard saying the woman was under the spell of "Pari Mata", a local deity, and the water offered by her would help them keep the coronavirus at bay, the official said. Watch the full video for more details.