Cobra dies after being bitten by eight-year-old boy

NEW DELHI - An 8-year-old child turned the stakes on a snake when he was bitten by a snake in India’s central state of Chhattisgarh, authorities said Saturday.

Media and officials said the boy, identified only as Deepak, was bitten while trying to protect himself from the reptile in his house in the remote village of Pandarpadh in the Jashpur district.

"When the snake got wrapped around my hand, I got bitten. I was in pain," Deepak told reporters earlier this week. "I tried to throw away the snake and I bit it twice."

His family transported him to a health facility, reported Anadolu Agency citing The New Indian Express.

"He was quickly administered anti-snake venom and kept under observation for the entire day and discharged," said Dr Jems Minj, a senior health official in Jashpur district.

Officials said the boy appeared to have received "a dry bite and the snake didn't release any venom," which saved his life.

Pratyush P. Mohapatra, a senior scientist at the Zoological Survey of India, told Anadolu Agency that such incidents are rare.

"But in such conflicting situations, anything can happen. In self-defence, the boy must have bitten the snake leading to the puncture of vital organs and the animal succumbed,” he said.

There are 45,000 snakebite deaths every year recorded in India, according to the 2011 "Million Death Study.”

A study published in 2020 in the open-access journal, eLife, conducted by leading Indian and international experts said: "Snakebite deaths may have caused 1.2 million deaths in India over the past two decades."

"Russell’s viper, kraits, and cobras are among the most important biting snake species in India," according to the World Health Organisation.

The UN health agency has set a target of "reducing by half the number of deaths due to snakebite envenoming" by 2030. - BERNAMA