The superstition of a seven-year-old child's parents that a dip in the Ganga River could cure their son of cancer cost a child his life in Haridwar on Wednesday (January 24), police said. The boy's parents kept chanting mantras on the banks of Har ki Pauri while his aunt allegedly dipped him repeatedly in the Ganga ignoring his loud cries, until he suffocated and died, they added.

Bystanders tried to stop the woman but she refused to listen to them, the police said. Eyewitnesses reported the incident to the police, SHO of the Har ki Pauri police station Bhavna Kainthola said. The child's parents and aunt have been held for interrogation, the SHO said.

The boy was suffering from blood cancer and resided with his parents in Delhi, she said. He died of drowning, the SHO said, adding that further inquiry into the case is underway.