An 11-year-old girl cut off her tongue and offered it to Lord Shiva in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, officials said on Wednesday

Raigarh: An 11-year-old girl cut off her tongue and offered it to Lord Shiva in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, officials said on Wednesday.

"The incident took place yesterday afternoon at the ancient Shiva temple in Sangeetarai village, located around three kms away from Raigarh district headquarters," Raigarh Sub-Divisional Magistrate Prakash Sarve said.

Chameli Sidar, daughter of a farmer, Budheshwar Sidar, chopped off her tongue with a knife in front of a Shiva linga, following which she fell unconscious, he said, adding, she started offering prayers even after she regained consciousness.

"When police and the district officials reached the spot, villagers prevented them from taking the child to the hospital citing that she will recover without any medical aid with the blessings of the God," the SDM said.

The girl is still at the temple and as a precautionary measure, a doctor has been deputed for ensuring medical aid to her, he added.

Chameli was keenly interested in performing religious rituals since her childhood and has not been much interested in studies. "Therefore, she quit the school after Class V. Since Saturday, she had been sitting in the temple and was not ready to go home," he said.

The Sarpanch of the village, Gopal told police that the girl was now fine. Sarve said that people have been coming to the temple to catch a glimpse of the girl and the reason behind her move was yet to be ascertained.

In the past as well, three incidents had taken place at the temple, where girls had sacrificed their tongues to Lord Shiva, the villagers said and claimed that all the girls recovered without any medical treatment.