Indian Couple Attempts to Revive Dead Son by Covering His Body in Salt, Based on Social Media Hoax

A couple from the village of Siravar in Karnataka, India, recently made an unsuccessful attempt to revive their 10-year-old son, Suresh Siravar, who had drowned in a pond. Acting on advice they had seen on social media, the parents covered their son's body in over 100 kilograms of salt, leaving only his face uncovered, in the hopes of bringing him back to life.

This is not the first time such an attempt has been made in India. A 2019 report by India Today found that multiple Facebook accounts were sharing videos and photos claiming that drowned persons could be revived by covering them in salt. The posts, usually made in Hindi, claimed that the salt "will slowly drain the water out of the body".

In 2018, a father in Shahdol was convinced by a WhatsApp message to cover his dead child in salt before the body could be taken for an autopsy, Punjabi Kesari reported. And just last year, villagers in Bhopal laid three drowned children on beds of salt in an attempt to resuscitate them, according to Zee News India.

However, these attempts are based on a social media hoax, and there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that salt can revive the dead. After the four-hour salt treatment failed to bring Suresh back to life, the villagers ultimately cremated his body.