Superstition and the hopes for a miracle led to the death of a five-old, terminally-ill boy in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar. The boy was suffering from blood cancer, and his parents believed that the river Ganga would cure him. In the cruel winter in north India, the boy was submerged in the freezing river. The attempts to prolong his life ended up killing him, say the police.

The family, which lived in Delhi, left for Haridwar around 9 am yesterday. The cab driver said the child was accompanied by his parents and another woman relative. Some reports have identified her as the boy’s aunt. The cab driver said the boy looked extremely unwell and the family had told him that he was suffering from cancer and doctors in Delhi had given up.

A disturbing video shows the parents of the boy chanting prayers while his aunt submerged him under the water. Some bystanders noticed that the boy was underwater for too long and started asking the family to stop. When they did not, those gathered at the spot forcefully brought the boy out. The video shows the aunt responding aggressively and even trying to attack those pulling the boy out. The child was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Another video shows the boy’s aunt sitting next to the body and saying that she was sure that the child would come back to life.

Haridwar city police chief Swantantra Kumar said the family had told them that the boy was undergoing cancer treatment in a top Delhi hospital. The doctors had eventually given up and told them that their child could not be saved. The family believed that river Ganga can heal the boy. “We are getting the reports from the Delhi hospital. But at this point, it appears that they brought the boy here because they believed that Ganga snan would cure him,” he said.

The boy’s parents and his aunt have been taken into custody for questioning, police said.

Ex- Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar re-joined the BJP Thursday, less than a year after he walked out of the party, claiming “ill treatment”, and joined the Congress. The switch also took place days before the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election, which he contested and lost – to a BJP candidate.

Mr Shettar’s ghar wapsi today – signed off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah – took place at the party’s HQ in Delhi in the presence of its Karnataka unit boss, BY Vijayendra, and his father, former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. “I am rejoining with the belief Narendra Modiji has to become PM again,” he declared.

Mr Shettar claimed “some issues” had led to his quitting the BJP and joining the Congress, and said, “In the last eight or nine months there were a lot of discussions. BJP workers asked me to come back…Yediyurappaji and Vijayendraji also wanted me to come back… so I am rejoining.”

Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress after he was denied a ticket to fight in last year’s Karnataka state election. The 68-year-old was overlooked as part of the anti-incumbency strategy of the BJP, which was then in power in the southern state. The strategy didn’t work – the Congress recorded a thumping win.

Mr Shettar, though, was not among the winners on the day. He was fielded from the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) seat but was defeated by the BJP’s Mahesh Tenginaka, who won by over 34,000 votes.

The seat was one Mr Shettar claimed in three successive Assembly elections between 2008 and 2018.

He blamed his loss on “money power and pressure tactics” and accused his BJP rival of “distributing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 (notes)” to voters. “In the last six elections I have not at all used money power… never distributed money to voters. (This is the) first time a BJP candidate has distributed Rs 500 – Rs 1000…”

After his switch Mr Yediyurappa had said Mr Shettar had “made a mistake”. “We promised him Rajya Sabha membership and (said) we would make him Union Minister. Amit Shah himself spoke to him. I think he made a mistake leaving… we wholeheartedly supported him almost every time,” he told NDTV.