The Kayamkulam police on Saturday arrested controversial Kerala naturopath Mohanan Vaidyar for allegedly misdiagnosing a patient and giving her the wrong treatment. According to police officials, the patient -- a minor -- was wrongly diagnosed with psoriasis, a skin condition. The child had another skin condition.
The incident reportedly took place six months ago, but came to light after the parents of the child approached the police.
"He diagnosed the child saying that she was affected by psoriasis and that it was incurable. This put the child through a lot of mental trauma and the parents filed a case because of this," an official at the Kayamkulam police station told TNM.
Mohanan has been booked under Section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC and Section 77 (Penalty for giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug or psychotropic substance to a child) of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.
"Mohanan Vaidyar was presented before the magistrate on Saturday after his arrest and was later let off on bail,” said the police officer.
The naturopath has made news in the past for allegedly treating patients despite not being a trained medical practitioner.
There is also another ongoing probe against Mohanan Vaidyar as an 18-month-old child had earlier died after the baby's parents consulted him, allegedly because of his treatment. "He has not yet been arrested in that case, and the probe is still ongoing," the Kayamkulam police said.
Last month, the Krishnapuram gram panchayat in Alappuzha district closed down Mohanan's 'treatment centre' after finding out that he was practising naturopathy without trained doctors. The centre was functioning at Njakkanal in Krishnapuram since 2018.
He acquired a license from the panchayat by stating that trained doctors will be treating patients. However, a probe conducted by the District Medical Officer found that it was Mohanan Vaidyar himself treating the patients.