An eerie silence pervades the village of Dariyapur at Bihta in Bihar. Superstition and a reluctance to seek medical attention has led to the death of eight children in this village of Musahars — a Schedule Caste community that comes at the bottom of Bihar’s caste set-up. Twenty-eight children are undergoing treatment at the Bihta Referral Hospital while eleven others — who are in a critical condition — have been sent to the Patna Medical College Hospital for treatment. Doctors at the Referral Hospital have not been able to pinpoint the cause of the deaths but they have narrowed it down to a type of viral infection. ‘‘We have administered injections and their condition has improved,’’ said Chief Medical Officer Dr K.K. Singh. ‘‘The problem was that for four to five days there was no information and they were busy praying and taking the advice of tantriks,’’ he added. When the children fell ill around December 8, the villagers thought the Gods were punishing them. ‘‘Devi ji was angry that’s why the children became ill. So we prayed to her. Before this, we used to do Devi puja and the children used to recover. The tantrik taught us how to do the puja,’’ said Agnu Manjhi, whose two-year-old daughter Neelam is undergoing treatment. ‘‘But this time it didn’t work.’’ After the eighth child died, the villagers finally sought medical help. But hospital staff said they were still reluctant in leaving their children there. ‘‘They don’t want to come for treatment. The children also suffer from malnutrition. If they get rice then they eat only rice for months on end,’’ said Dr Singh. Among those affected are ten-year-old Rinku and 15-year-old Bullu Manjhi, both orphans. Their father died of TB a year ago. They lost three of their siblings to the viral infection in the past four days. ‘‘My two sisters and brother died. I don’t know what happened,’’ whispered Bullu who is also being treated at the Bihta Referral hospital. The two eat whenever the older sister is able to get food or money through manual labour. On some days, there is no food at all. Thankfully, a change has already started taking place in the village. Those who lost their children as also those whose children just about survived realise they shouldn’t have trusted a tantrik. ‘‘The next time my child falls ill, I will take her to the doctor,’’ said Agnu. Bihta is home to 20,000 from the Musahar community. The community is known for its diet of rats and lives in abject poverty. At Dariyapur village, pigs, cows, chickens and hens all live under the same roof. ‘‘We have only one house and the animals live with us,’’ said Rudal Manjhi at the village. The district administration has now sprayed disinfectant in the whole village and local doctors say the state government should provide the community with a food scheme or some employment scheme to help them.
