Local officials in western India have come under fire from child rights experts over a 700-year-old ritual that sees infants dropped from the roof of a mosque.
Resident in the region believe the fall – which ends when the babies are caught in a bedsheet – will ensure good health and prosperity for their families.
Each year hundreds of people, both Hindus and Muslims, take part in the ritual at the Baba Umer Durga, a Muslim shrine in Sholapur, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) south of Mumbai.
This year though, India’s National Commission for Protection of Child’s Rights took umbrage with the tradition and issued a notice to the local administration and are investigating the ceremony.
Local reports say hundreds of infants, mostly under two years old, were dangled from the roof of the shrine, before being dropped about 50 feet (15 meters) onto a bedsheet held aloft by parents and other believers.
High child mortality rates, especially in India’s rural areas, see many people resort to rituals which they believe will ensure their children’s health.
Despite there being no reports of injuries, child rights activists expressed outrage claiming the event showed, “a complete failure of the local administration to prevent this practice and to create awareness about children’s health”.
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