Hyderabad, May 2 -- The tragic death of a twenty-year-old man in Uttar Pradesh has cast a spotlight on the persistence of superstition in some parts of India once again. He was kept in a river after a snake bit him, as someone had told his family that keeping him in flowing water will wash away the snake poison.

Mohit Kumar, a resident of Jairampur Kudena village in the Anupshahar police station area of Bulandshahr, returned home after exercising his right to vote in the second phase of the elections on April 26. He visited a park in the evening where a snake bit him.

Despite efforts by his family to seek medical assistance, Kumar tragically succumbed to the venom during treatment. However, instead of accepting the medical verdict, Kuma...