India: Minister says, 'coronavirus will not come near me' because she was 'born in cow dung'

Months after an Indian politician had recommended papads to fight against coronavirus, a minister from the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Imarti Devi, has said she believes that she is immune to the infection because she was born in cow dung and mud. According to reports, the comment was made during a confrontation with the media on September 3 and it is being widely shared online.

"I am born in mud and cow dung. Corona[virus] cannot come near me," Devi, Minister of Women and Force Development of the state, said while talking to local media amid rumours that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

In the clip, the politician, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), points at her mask, hanging by her chin, and said that she was wearing it forcefully.

A video of the incident went viral on social media.

Earlier, an Indian minister, Arjun Ram Meghwal, had claimed that a brand of papad (a thin fried cracker made from lentils) has ingredients to fight coronavirus, causing Twitter users to slam the unscientific claims while trolling him.

In the clip, Meghwal, currently India's Union Minister of State in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Parliamentary Affairs, was seen talking about the ingredients of a brand called ‘Bhabhi ji papad’ and said that it helps “develop antibodies” needed to fight against COVID-19.

However, a few weeks later, the minister tested positive for the virus.