Anant Ambani Steps In: Murshidabad Boy Living In Pond Airlifted To Mumbai For Treatment

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Iqbal, 16, has spent years of his life doing something most people would find unthinkable: living in ponds. Whenever he stepped out of the water, he said, a severe burning sensation spread across his body. He also described feeling as though a supernatural presence was controlling him, which kept pulling him back in.

Photo Credit: Screen grab from viral video

That routine changed this week. After a video of Iqbal eating snacks while sitting in a pond went viral, his case reached Reliance Industries Executive Director Anant Ambani. On his instructions, the teenager, from Beldanga in Murshidabad, was airlifted to Mumbai and admitted to Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital for specialised evaluation.

A Condition Without A Clear Diagnosis

Iqbal's family and neighbours had watched his condition unfold for years, largely without answers. Local doctors had examined him earlier, but no treatment plan managed to keep him out of the water for long. A Ghaziabad-based physician, Dr Brajpal Tyagi, had separately appealed to the West Bengal government for permission to treat Iqbal free of cost after seeing videos of his condition online - a sign of how far the story had already travelled before Mumbai got involved.

What Years In Water Can Do To The Body

Even before a diagnosis is confirmed, doctors say the pond itself poses a risk. A dermatologist at SSKM Hospital has noted that prolonged immersion causes skin maceration, where the skin turns pale, softens, and becomes far more prone to cracking, irritation and infection. Continuous moisture, another dermatologist pointed out, also raises the likelihood of fungal and bacterial infections taking hold.

Medical experts reviewing Iqbal's case have said the burning sensation itself needs proper clinical evaluation, and that a psychological assessment may be just as important as a dermatological one, given how he describes the "possession" that drives him back into the water.

Now Under Specialist Care In Mumbai

At Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Iqbal is under the care of a multidisciplinary team, the kind of access that simply wasn't available to him in Beldanga. What his diagnosis turns out to be, whether dermatological, neurological or psychiatric, will shape not just his treatment but how his case is understood going forward.

Bottomline

Iqbal's years in the water were never really a mystery to the people around him - they watched it happen, appealed for help, and mostly went unheard. What changed wasn't his condition; it was visibility. A viral video did what years of local appeals could not. His treatment in Mumbai is a hopeful turn, but it also says something less comfortable: how many similar cases, without a viral moment, never get this far.