Mangaluru: Children’s rights are being violated by certain groups in Chikkamagaluru and use them for advertisements to spread superstitious beliefs alleged the Federation of Indian Rationalists Associations (FIRA).
The FIRA recently lodged a complaint with the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in this regard.
In the complaint, FIRA president Narendra Nayak asked the the commission to direct such claimants to appear before an expert panel of ophthalmologists, educationists, magicians and psychiatrists in order to expose the fraud.
He alleged children were being forced to do illegal acts and display imaginary powers for cheating the public. He also supported his claim by submitting a video along with his complaint. The video showed some children claiming they have a third eye and that it can be activated when they are blindfolded.
Nayak further mentioned in his complaint that a group from Aldur in Chikkamagaluru claimed that children can be made to see without the light from the object falling on their retina and that this group were allegedly collecting fee from the people interested in getting the skill.
Mid-brain activation is another superstition which is being promoted and it claims it would help students improve their studies, said Nayak.
A number of groups in the state exploit children in this way to cheat the people, Nayak said in the complaint, and requested the commission to order an investigation into the matter and take action against those behind such acts. Nayak said he had conducted various awareness programmes to expose the groups, but parents of some children were still duped by such cheating in the name of ‘mid-brain activation’ and ‘third eye’.