A woman was arrested in West Bengal after she was found performing an elaborate, eight hour ritual in a temple to bring back to life a four-year-old boy.

The baby had passed away in a Kolkata hospital Sunday and his parents had taken him to a quack, whose wife is a devotee of goddess Kali, in the hope that divine intervention might bring him back to life, local reports said quoting the Nadia district magistrate.

He said the parents from Kalyani town believed their son could come alive even though 24 hours had elapsed since his death.

The woman began an elaborate ritual in a Kali temple, which continued for eight hours amid the blowing of conches till the police came and arrested her with two others Monday.

The parents had earlier said the boy was taking water and urinating and hence could be revived. But doctors said such a phenomenon was not unusual in children as the food pipe remains soft even after death.