Bhubaneswar, July 22: In a bizarre incident, more than 50 kids in Odisha, were made to drink local country liquor, to prevent them for COVID-19 infection. Reports inform that the kids aged between 10 and 12 years. The incident was reported from Malkangiri district of the state. According to locals in the district, the kids were served the fermented sap of the local ‘Salapa’ tree at a marriage function. According to a report by Hindustan Times, Sukha Kabasi of Tekguda village who attended the marriage function said the children were served the fermented sap at the advice of some village elders.

The locals believed that the liquor would prevent the children from contracting COVID-19 as it has alcohol in it. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media, though officials claim that the video is an old one. The report adds that the bizarre act came to light after the video of the incident went viral on social media. The incident is believed to have happened 2 weeks ago. The video also showed that children and villagers flouted the social distancing guidelines and were seen without a face mask. Odisha Announces 14-day Complete Lockdown in 4 High Caseload Districts.

The HT report further quoted District child protection officer Narayan Das saying that he has taken up the issue with the village elders as children should not be served any liquor. The COVID-19 tally in Odisha inched towards the 20,000-mark as the state reported its highest single-day spike of 1,078 new cases on Wednesday. Five more deaths were reported today, pushing the death toll in the state due to the coronavirus to 108.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 22, 2020 01:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).