Locals from the Chaparai village, Rampachodavaram are refusing to go to the doctor Though afflicted by disease, the villagers have even decided not to speak to anyone about the issue Despite more than five deaths, the villagers insist on sticking to herbal medicine
Residents of Chaparai village in Rampachodavaram are refusing to go to the doctor, following the advice of leaders who believe in superstition. The villagers have even decided not to speak to anyone about the disease afflicting the village because someone came in their dreams and told them so!
The Sarpanch of the village was reported as saying, by The New Indian Express, that a 60-year-old man who died of fever came in their dreams and warned residents against speaking to anyone about the disease. The old man is also said to have warned that the community will perish if they spoke about the illness.
This warning does not seem to have helped the village much, which even saw three deaths in a day. And residents are continuing to fall sick, and die, with severe fever as the common symptom.
The first death struck the village on June 2. Boramma had fallen sick and was not able to eat anything. She died of fever and dehydration soon after. The following day two more people had the fever. In five days there was panic over in the village, and those who fell ill died in a day or two.
The patients were given herbal medicines by the healers in the village, but all the afflicted were opposed to going to the doctor. When there were series of deaths, some of them showed interest in visiting the doctor, but the village leaders stopped them from doing so.
Chaparai village is located in the interiors of East Godavari, and the area does not even have drinking water. Officials told the The New Indian Express that there are borewells, but people do not boil the water. Now, with the rains, mosquitoes have been breeding in the stagnant water, and this might have caused the fever.
Making the condition worse, even doctors are not showing interest in going to the area to treat the patients as there are no basic facilities there.
However, it is a dangerous trend that even those who want to go to the doctor are being stopped in the name of dreams and superstitions.
