A 2-year-old boy, found with 42 needles inside his body, arrives to a hospital in Salvador, northeastern Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009. Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, the boy’s stepfather, has confessed to jabbing them into the toddler as part of a religious ritual, Brazilian police said Thursday.

Doctors have begun to perform emergency surgery on a Brazilian toddler to remove some of the 42 sewing needles that were allegedly inserted into him by his stepfather during a series of bizarre rituals.

Surgeons in the north-eastern city of Salvador plan to take out a needle that punctured the two-year-old boy’s heart and others threatening vital organs, said Susy Moreno, a spokesman at the hospital where the boy is being treated.
The operation could be followed by more surgery, she said.

Police said the boy’s stepfather confessed to pushing 42 supposedly “blessed” sewing needles deep into the child because his lover told him to while in trances. The rituals were performed over a period of a month to try to keep the couple together, the stepfather told police.

Roberto Carlos Magalhaes, a 30-year-old bricklayer, told detectives the woman would enter into trances and “command him to stick the needles in the boy’s body,” police inspector Helder Fernandes Santana said.

The lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, paid to have the needles measuring up to two inches blessed by a woman who practised the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble, and convinced Magalhaes that inserting them into the boy would somehow allow them to be together, Santana said.

Police, however, believe Dos Santos was out for revenge on the boy’s mother, though they did not say why.
“According to his confession, he acted under influence of the woman, but it was he who stuck the needles in the boy’s body,” the inspector said.

Magalhaes and dos Santos were both arrested, though no charges have yet been filed.
Dos Santos is not believed to be a member of any religious or occult group, and authorities believe she came up with the idea of the rituals on her own, Santana said.

—————————–

The lover, Angelina Ribeiro dos Santos, paid to have the needles measuring up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) blessed by a woman who practiced the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble, and convinced Magalhaes that inserting them into the boy would somehow allow them to be together, Santana said.

One of the needles penetrated the boy’s heart, meaning he may need an emergency operation if any bleeding starts, Brazil’s Globo TV reported Friday, quoting unnamed hospital sources. The boy also had a fever brought on by a heart infection but he was conscious and in stable condition in an intensive care unit, the network said.

Officials at the hospital in the coastal city of Salvador have said previously that two needles were close to his heart, one was embedded in a lung and others were dangerously close to vital organs. They declined immediate comment on the Globo TV report, saying doctors would hold a press conference later to discuss the boy’s condition.

The boy’s mother, a maid, took him to a hospital in Ibotirama, population about 25,000, on Dec. 10, saying he was complaining of pain.

After X-rays revealed the cause, the mother told police she didn’t know how the needles got inside her son, whose name was not released because of his age.

Police and doctors concluded it would have been impossible for the boy to have ingested the needles — which have been also in his left leg and spread throughout his abdomen.

Sholapur’s Baby Dropping 2009

Indian officials allowed hundreds of babies to be dropped from the roof of a mosque in the belief it would ensure good health and prosperity.

The ritual at the Baba Umer Durga, a Muslim shrine, is believed to have been followed for nearly 700 years, and each year hundreds of people, both Hindus and Muslims, take part.

Infants, most under two years old, are dangled from the roof of the shrine near Sholapur, 450km south of Mumbai, before being dropped about 15m onto a bedsheet held aloft by parents and other believers.

Television channels showed the babies screaming as they were shaken in the air before being dropped.

Officials said there had been no reports of any injuries at this year’s event.

‘Irrational’ behaviour

With high child mortality rates, especially in India’s rural areas, many people resort to rituals which they believe can ensure their children’s health.

Children’s rights activists expressed outrage after the Headlines Today television channel showed the babies being dropped.

“This shows the complete failure of the local administration to prevent this practice and to create awareness about children’s health,” said Ranjana Kumari, a civil rights activist in New Delhi.

“It is also a reflection of the lack of access to health services, that forces people to behave in this irrational manner,” Kumari said.

India’s National Commission for Protection of Child’s Rights issued a notice to the local administration in Sholapur and has begun investigations into the practice.

I don’t think access to health service for kids will help this issue; if you are stupid enough to think that dropping your few months old baby from 50 feet, causing him a whiplash and possible permanent brain injuries will ensure his health then go ahead you don’t need medical access.

Have you notice that this year they shake the babies before dropping them? Why is that? They also have clothes and seem a bit older… Of maybe it was simply the 2nd group, the 1 and up?

Sholapur’s Baby Dropping 2008

This poor MSNBC anchor was just trying to report on the story about some little kids at a daycare surviving a tornado in Windsor, Colorado but instead of talking to someone live, all you can hear is a producer swearing and screaming. Yikes! We hope they enjoyed their career while it lasted…

A 10-year old’s driving services were requested by 43-year old Randy Lewis (that’s actually him in the picture, he was really wearing that shirt) and Paula Elaine Evans because they were too drunk to drive themselves. Other passengers included another 10-year old and a 6-year old. However, the driver lost control of the van at 90MPH and flipped it, before it finally came to stop on its roof.

Thankfully, all five individuals where released from the hospital with minor injuries, and Lewis and Evans (the adults could have died for all I care) both went to jail for charges ranging from child endangerment and neglect to DUI, a charge which can be levied in Tennessee even if you aren’t behind the wheel. After a performance like that, we sincerely hope nobody ever buys that dad a beer ever again.

When the authorities arrived on the scene, Lewis admitted to having consumed at least 15 beers as well as somealcohol while Miss Evans pounded down as many unidentified pills as she could before police arrested her.

Wow, making a 10-year old drive you home because you’re wasted? That’s just sad. I think we can all agree here that designated drivers should at least be 11½. You know, so they can reach the pedals.