Koppal man's attempt to undergo trial by fire goes awry, suffers burns

As part of Muharram celebration, a firewalk was organised in Hirebenakal in Koppal district Khader Bhasha was reportedly drunk and lost his balance while walking on the fire and fell on it He has been rushed to Koppal district government hospital The State government has not banned the ritual in the anti-superstition bill

A man sustained burn injuries when he fell on to a bed of fire while attempting to firewalk at Hirebenakal in Gangavathi taluk of Koppal district, on Tuesday. The injured has been identified as Khader Bhasha.

According to Suvarna News, as part of the Muharram celebration, the villagers of Hirebenakal had set the place to conduct firewalk, a popular ritual in Karnataka. Devotees brave walking over fire to please 'Kaudepeer' during the Muharram celebration.

On Monday night, Khader who was from the neighbouring village was participating in the Muharram celebration. He decided to firewalk. However, he reportedly lost balance and fell into the fire. He was quickly rescued from the fire and was rushed to Koppal district hospital.

Some of the villagers said that Khader was allegedly drunk while he tried to firewalk. However, his family members refuted these allegations.

Firewalk ritual is performed throughout Karnataka as an attempt to please god or some even do it to fulfil their vow. In fact, this is not the first that time such accidents were reported during the firewalks. Earlier, the state government had planned to ban the ritual, but it reportedly bowed under pressure not to ban it.

In the recently implemented anti-superstition bill, the firewalk is not banned by the state government.