Sharma was found with tongue in hand

PALANPUR: A 24-year-old migrant from Madhya Pradesh chopped off his tongue, reportedly as a sacrifice to please a deity to halt the spread of novel coronavirus in the country.The incident happened in Nadeshwari of Banaskantha district’s Suigam taluka. The village is located about 18 km from the Indo-Pak border.Vivek Sharma, from Morena district in MP, was employed with eight other stone sculptors to work on extension of Bhavani Mata temple in Suigam. He has been working here for the past two months with others, including his brother Shivam.Sharma's co-worker Brijesh Singh Saab Singh told police the former was a devotee of Kaali Mata and kept chanting the deity's name. On Saturday morning, he left Bhavani temple saying he was going to the market. However, when he did not return, his brother called his mobile phone. Someone answered and told him Vivek had chopped off his tongue at the Nadeshwari temple.While complaint lodged at Suigam states that Sharma did this in a fit of rage, department sources said that he thought the tongue sacrifice would please Nadeshwari Mataji and stop the coronavirus spread.“For the last few days, he was keen to go back to his native town in Madhya Pradesh. But it was impossible due to lockdown. Today, in reckless abandon he chopped off his tongue,” said HD Parmar, police sub-inspector, Suigam.“We found him lying unconscious in the temple premises with the tongue in his hand. The priest called the Border Security Force (BSF) commander and Sharma was shifted to a hospital in Tharad town where doctors are trying to reattach his tongue,” said Parmar.SK Vala, Tharad DSP said, “Only after thorough investigation, we will know the exact reason for such a step.”