Thiruvananthapuram:  An eight-year-old boy in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram was killed in the name of superstition. The victim, Abhishek showed symptoms of rabies, but his parents allegedly took the boy to a black magic practitioner for treatment. Abhishek is the son of Reena and Manikuttam. He was studying in Thalayil lower primary school.

As the boy showed symptoms like being scared of lights and reluctance to drink water for some days, his parents thought that the boy was affected by some spirit. So the couple took the boy to the black magic practitioner.

Also read: Kerala teacher writes exam on behalf of students; gets suspended

Later the boy started to show discomfort by sticking out his tongue and showed restlessness, and then the parents had to take him to the nearby hospital, Nedumangadu taluk hospital. As the doctor asked the parents to take a blood test, the parents refused to do so and retook the boy to the black magic practitioner.

Again when the boy started to behave weirdly and when bubbles began to pop in his face the parents took him to Thiruvananthapuram medical college and later to Kanyakulangara hospital. But by then the boy had lost his life.

Also read: Kerala Congress (M) leaders jealous, scared of Mani, says party mouthpiece's editor

The doctors confirmed that the boy died due to rabies infection. The parents are still confused thinking how the boy had been infected with rabies. The parents also recalled that the boy used to mingle with dogs and some days back a street dog died near their house. But no one else in their areas showed the symptoms of rabies. The medical team led by the district medical officer reached the place and gave anti-rabies vaccination to 15 people in the area following the death of the boy.