In a shocking and horrific incident, an occultist (tantrik) hung a six-month-old baby upside down over fire during an ’exorcism’ ritual in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri, which left the baby almost blind, the police said on Saturday.

The ritual severely damaged the baby’s eyes, with officials saying that it is difficult to predict whether the infant’s eyesight will be restored, news agency PTI reported.

The incident took place on March 13 in the Kolaras police station area after the baby’s parents took him to occultist Raghuveer Dhakad’s house to ’treat’ him for discomfort, officials said.

However, the self-claimed occultist told the baby’s parents that their son was being haunted by some ill spirits, and a ritual was to be performed to treat the infant.

In the name of the ’ exorcism’ ritual, the baby was hanged upside down over a fire with his parents watching and enduring his cries, hoping he would be “cured".

The incident came to light when the parents took their son to the Shivpuri district hospital, police said.

"The boy is being treated at the hospital," Superintendent of Police Aman Singh Rathod told the news agency.

He further said that considering the seriousness of the matter, a case has been registered against Dhakad on a complaint lodged by Janved Parihar, a village Kotwar who reports crimes to the police.

Dhakad is yet to be arrested as the investigation is underway, police said.

Shivpuri District Hospital’s ophthalmologist, Dr Girish Chaturved, said the child’s eyes were badly damaged, and he was admitted to the ICU.

"We will know only after 72 hours if his eyesight will be restored. His eyes are seriously injured," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)