On Monday, 9th December, a tragic incident was reported from the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh sending shock waves across the state. An 8-year-old minor girl identified as Bhagyashree who was suffering from a brain tumour was reported dead after her parents took her to attend prayers at a church that claimed miraculous healing. The girl and her family spent around 40 days inside the church praying and fasting for miraculous healing of the girl but to no avail.
The incident happened on Monday, 9th December evening raising serious concerns over the ‘miracle’ healing events hosted by Christian missionaries in the name of treatment.
As per the local reports, the minor girl, a resident of Dalit Colony in Balaji Raopet, Kaluvai Mandal, suffered from constant headaches and vomiting. Her parents Lakshmaiah and Lakshmi, belonging to a poor financial background, took her to several doctors in Nellore and Tirupati for treatment. However, the doctors found out that the girl had a brain tumour and recommended surgery. The parents of the girl, however, could not afford surgery and sought help from the relatives and also the hospital.
Minor girl dies in church premises after 40 day prayer fails to cure brain tumour. Andhra Pradesh,Kaluvayi. Adurupalli church pic.twitter.com/GYzj8Ya1p4
— DharmaRakshak (@oldhandhyd) December 11, 2024
Following this, some of the relatives of the family suggested they take to girl to a church in Adurupalli for miraculous healing. They claimed that praying there to the Almighty might help the girl recover her health. The family then travelled to the church with Bhavyashree. They stayed there for around 40 days, fasting and praying for her healing.
The family meanwhile could see that the health of their daughter was deteriorating but they still continued to offer prayers and believed in the Church healings. Even the church authorities who were believed to be concerned about the child’s deteriorating condition, did not suggest medical help for the child. They instead reinforced their belief that divine intervention would heal the child.
Unfortunately, Bhavyashree breathed her last at midnight on 9th December 2024 in the church premises where the parents of the girl had been praying for her health. The death of the child has raised severe concerns about the so-called responsibility of religious institutions and whether more should have been done to address the child’s medical needs. So far, no complaint in this case has been lodged.
