CHENNAI, India: India´s child protection agency has appealed to parents not to let children take part in religious rituals that could be dangerous, following a teenager´s death after a 68-day fast. The appeal follows public outcry over the death of 13-year-old Aradhana Samdhariya from the minority Jain community in the southern city of Hyderabad. Samdhariya died due to cardiac arrest on Oct. 3, a day after her family held a procession in which she rode on a chariot dressed in bridal finery to celebrate the end of the ritual of surviving only on water. "We are appealing to all communities to ensure that they do not adopt customs and rituals like fasting or self flagellation that will harm their children," Stuti Kacker, chair of the National Commission for the Protection of Child´s Rights, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. There is an urgent need to change mindsets. "The commission has drawn up a plan to raise awareness about religious rituals that it says ch...
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