A one-month-old baby boy was branded with a hot iron rod about 40 times to cure a disease in Odisha`s Nabarangpur district following which he was admitted to a government hospital, officials said on Monday. The child is a resident of Phundelpada village under Gambhariguda panchayat in the Chandahandi block of the district. He was admitted to the Umerkote Sub-Divisional Hospital for treatment. Nabarangpur Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Dr Santosh Kumar Panda visited the hospital and said the infant`s health condition is now stable. “There are about 30 to 40 branding spots on the belly and head of the child. There is a superstition that if a child is branded with hot metal, then the child would be cured of diseases,” he said. The doctor said that the child was down with a fever, running a high temperature ten days ago and was crying a lot. The family members believed that the child was under the influence of some evil spirit. Instead of seeking medical help, the family branded him 30-40 times with hot …