The king cobra named 'Sir Vaas' and later renamed 'Houdini' is pictured in his terrarium at Skansen Zoo after being on the run for a week, in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 31, 2022. - The snake voluntarily returned to the terrarium on Sunday, October 30, 2022, after escaping through a lamp fixture. - Sweden OUT (Photo by Tim ARO / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT (Photo by TIM ARO/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
A poisonous cobra was killed after an 8-year-old Indian boy bit the snake to death when it wrapped itself around his hand.
According to the New Indian Express, the incident occurred on Monday in India’s Pandarpadh village in Jashpur district, where 8-year-old Deepak was playing in the backyard of his house when a poisonous cobra reportedly bit him on his hand.
“The snake got wrapped around my hand and bit me,” Deepak told the outlet. “I was in great pain. As the reptile didn’t budge when I tried to shake it off, I bit it hard twice. It all happened in a flash.”
Deepak was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was given anti-snake venom and held for observation. He was discharged after only a day, the outlet reports.
Dr. Jems Minj said the boy luckily only suffered a “dry bite,” meaning there was no venom in the snake’s fangs at the time of the bite.
Qaiser Hussain, a local snake expert, told the outlet that while dry bites are “painful,” they are a rare occurrence.
Local journalist Ramesh Sharma said the district is also known to locals as Naglok, meaning abode of serpents, due to the 200 different breed of snakes that reside in the area.
“I have never come across such an incident in Jashpur district,” Sharma said.
Monday’s incident comes just months after a 2-year-old girl in Turkey similarly bit a snake to death while she was playing in her backyard, The Shade Room previously reported.
“Our neighbors have told me that the snake was in the hand of my child, she was playing with it and then it bit her,” Mehmet Ercan, the toddler’s father, told Newsweek. “Then she has bitten the snake back as a reaction.”
The toddler, who was not named, survived and is alive and well.
The toddler reportedly bit the reptile to death after it attacked her first and sank its fangs into her lip. According to Newsweek, the toddler is from the village of Kantar near Bingol. The incident reportedly occurred on August 10.
Neighbors found the toddler after hearing her screams coming from a backyard area. When the neighbors reached the toddler, she had a bite mark on her lip. But, the little girl also had a 20-inch snake clenched between her teeth.
It’s unclear how soon after the bite, the snake died, but the toddler was taken to the hospital for treatment. The toddler’s father was reportedly at work when the snake attack and revenge went down. Doctors treated the girl at the Bingol Maternity and Children’s Hospital.
Medical professionals supervised the child for 24 hours and determined she was recovering well.
