Occultist performs rituals on ICU patient at Guj hospital; probe ordered

The Ahmedabad Civil Hospital has ordered a probe after a purported video of an occultist performing a ritual on an intensive care unit patient and taking credit for his treatment went viral, an official said on Wednesday.

The occult practitioner, who identified himself as Mukesh Bhuva, shared on Instagram a video of the ritual purportedly performed at the government hospital in Ahmedabad.

After the clip went viral, the hospital's medical superintendent, Dr Rakesh Joshi, issued a video statement urging people not to believe in the occultist's claims that it was his magic that treated the patient.

Joshi said they have ordered a probe into the incident.

"We have not come across any such instance in the past 15-odd days, but we have launched an investigation and footage of CCTV cameras are being scanned. We will soon find out how and why the person entered the ICU," he said.

The purported video shows a man wearing a t-shirt and trousers casually walking into the ICU ward and approaching an intubated patient.

He is shown performing some ritual by touching the patient's head, with the caption on the video claiming that it was his miracle that gave him a new life.

"Looking at the video I believe that the person who claims to be a bhuva (occult practitioner) walked into the ICU ward of the civil hospital at night through the gates of the trauma ward of the hospital," Joshi said.

In the video, the patient on whom the ritual is performed appears fully conscious, the official said.

"The claims made in the video that the patient was treated due to the miracle of the bhuva are totally baseless and an attempt to spread superstition. People should understand that it is the effort of the doctors and not some occult practitioner if a patient admitted to the ICU recovers," Joshi said.

The sorcerer may have entered the hospital by posing as the patient's relative, otherwise, it is not possible to enter the ICU ward without a valid pass, the official said.

The Instagram page of Mukesh Bhuva has a few more videos showing him performing rituals on patients lying in beds in a hospital. One video shows a patient, purportedly recovered from severe head injuries, praising him.

Rationalist Jayant Pandya, who leads the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha' that promotes scientific temper among the masses, said the person performing the ritual on the ICU patient was hindering his treatment, which he said should not have happened.

"Immediate action should be taken against all those held responsible for this," he added.