A snake helpline member captures the reptile in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, June 26: A 55-year-old man in Patia allegedly tried to commit suicide yesterday through a snakebite following an altercation with his wife.

Prachand Das, who sustained injuries on his right hand, is undergoing treatment at the Capital Hospital. But Das’ wife dismissed the altercation theory and said he was bitten by the snake while removing a piece of stone near his house.

However, snake helpline member Subhendu Mallik said that he received information that Das held the reptile in one hand while keeping the other hand in front of it in a bid to commit suicide following a quarrel with his wife.

“We checked the matter with villagers and they testified it to be true. I will lodge a complaint with the police regarding this, as such incidents, if not checked, will go up,” said Mallick.

He said that Das belonged to the traditional snake-charmers community residing in Padmakesharipur. The wound on his hand showed that it was a deliberate attempt to commit suicide using the reptile as a weapon.

With the advent of monsoon, sighting of snakes and incidents of snakebites have scaled up in the city and its outskirts.

Officials at the Capital Hospital said that in the last few days the inflow of patients with snakebites has gone up.

Head of the medicine department, Nabaghan Swain said: “We receive around 100 cases of snakebites each month on an average during monsoon.”

The reptile’s sightings have gone up as rainwater seeps inside their burrows. Experts also say that it is that time of the year when their eggs get hatched.

Species such as rat snake, krait, cobra, python, viper and keelback can be seen preying on rats and toads. Mallick said that he gets maximum complaints from the residents of Unit-IX, Unit-VIII, Unit-VI, Forest Park, Sailashree Vihar, Pokhariput and Baramunda.

In another incident, Saki Sahu, 65, of Balianta died of snakebite today. When she was admitted to the Capital Hospital, her condition was very critical. Within a few minutes of her admission she died.

Pato Maharana, 50, of Balianta was also admitted in Capital Hospital for snakebite and was referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack after his condition deteriorated.

Sudip Narayan Mohanty, a serviceman, had a harrowing experience on Wednesday morning when he spotted a black snake at their Master Canteen residence. He immediately called the helpline, but the snake disappeared before help came. He continues to live in fear.