A large population in India still believes that getting bitten by a dog leads to the birth of puppies inside human body. Medical experts say witch doctors are at the root of the bizarre myth.

When 18-year-old Shankari Mahato was bit by a dog in her village in West Midnapur district in the state of West Bengal last month, instead of going to a regular doctor, she went to a witch doctor in a neighbouring village.

The 70-year-old witch doctor Buddheswar Singh had the girl swallow some mysterious herbs mixed with yogurt and flattened rice, and assured her that she would not face any health complications due to the dog bite.

The 18-year-old girl said she went to the witch doctor because she knew his medicine would save her life.

"We know that if people are bit by dogs, puppies will be born inside their stomach. That leads to rabies and eventually death," she told DW. "The medicine the witch doctor gave me cured me completely."

Malati Mahato, Shankari's illiterate mother, said that she too had taken Mr. Singh's medicine after getting bitten by a dog 8 years ago and she was cured.

"In our village whenever someone gets bitten by a dog, the person is usually taken to Mr. Singh for treatment. We don't go to hospital or regular doctors. His medicine is life-saving," Malati told DW.

Superstition

The belief in the so-called "puppy pregnancy syndrome" (PPS) is prevalent among tens of thousands of people in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and some other Indian states.

Psychiatrist Kumar Kanti Ghosh, who has researched PPS for almost two decades and helped document the phenomenon for an article in the medical journal Lancet in 2003, said a mass hysteria or group delusion was behind the superstitious belief of puppy pregnancy among illiterate or near-illiterate people.

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Medicine challenges Indian superstition