A four-year-old boy with leukaemia drowned after a superstitious bid to cure him failed.
The child’s family were said to have travelled from their home in Delhi to Haridwar, in India, on Wednesday to perform a prayer ceremony in the Ganges River.
The boy, named only as Ravi, reportedly jumped into the river after his family said bathing in the river could cause a ‘miracle’ and cure his cancer.
Video footage shows three people submerging the boy’s head into the river, at the Har Ki Pauri ghat, to bathe him.
Passersby intervened and helped bring him to the surface, but he was unconscious.
A woman thought to be his aunt is seen in a second clip laughing and saying: ‘Keep recording the video. This child will wake up, this is my promise.’
She and two other people were detained by police minutes after the video was taken.
A taxi driver who transported the family claimed Ravi was accompanied by his parents and his aunt.
The driver said the boy looked ‘extremely unwell’ and that doctors in the capital had ‘given up’ on trying to save him, leaving his family desperate.
Police confirmed the family members were all taken into custody for questioning.
Haridwar city police chief Swantantra Kumar said: ‘It appears that they brought the boy here because they believed that Ganga snan [cleansing] would cure him.’
They said an investigation was underway and Ravi’s cause of death is not yet known.
The Ganges River has strong religious and cultural significance to Hindus and played a central role in the founding history of India.
People bathe in the river with the belief it has spiritual properties, capable of absorbing purities or washing away sin.
Dying on the banks of the river or being cremated nearby is also believed to ensure instant salvation.
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