Bizarre Indian cure for asthma: swallowing live fish

(Web Desk) - A 5cm long murrel fish stuffed with yellow herbal paste is apparently a new cure for asthma. Thousands of people from across India travel to Hyderable each year for this free asthma treatment.

Every June, the Bathini Goud family, which administers the treatment, provides this unusual cure for free for Indians from all across the country. The family has declined to reveal the secret formula which they procured from a Hindu Saint in 1845.

The family claims that the fish clears the throat on their way down and permanently cure the person of asthma and other respiratory problems.

Parents forced to coax open the mouths of reluctant children who cry at the sight of the squirming fish. Some children quietly accept their fate, close their eyes, tip their heads back and swallow the fish.

Human rights groups and doctors claim that this treatment is unscientific and unhygienic, declaring it to be a violation of human rights. These claims have been rejected by the Bathini Goud family.