Govind Kumar collapsed after biting a cobra to death in Mohachchhi Bankatwa, in India’s state of Bihar, where stunned locals are hailing his survival as miraculous
A one-year-old boy escaped death after he killed the venomous cobra that attacked him by biting it.
The incident occurred in Mohachchhi Bankatwa, a remote village in the Indian state of Bihar, which borders Nepal to the north. The little boy, Govind Kumar, collapsed shortly after the encounter and was rushed to a nearby doctor before being transferred to a hospital in Bettiah.
Hospital chief Dr. Duvakant Mishra said: “Govind was referred here after fainting soon after chewing on the live snake. He was unconscious when he arrived.” According to relatives, the child had somehow gotten hold of the snake while inside his home.
His grandma, who watched on in horror as the cobra attacked the tot, screamed and did her best to intervene – but the child had already sunk his teeth into the reptile.
“When she reached him, the snake lay lifeless on the floor and the child had fallen unconscious,” Mishra added. The boy is being closely monitored for signs of him having being bitten. Though there were no immediate symptoms, doctors were on standby to start anti-venom treatment if necessary.
Locals, who live in an area known to be in close proximity with wildlife, say this is the first time they’ve heard of a child overpowering a cobra especially in such a bizarre manner.
As Govind recovers under medical supervision, the toddler’s survival is being hailed as miraculous given the deadly reputation of cobras in the region.
About 300 snake species can be found in India, including 60 extremely poisonous snakes that cause the majority of bite-related fatalities, including saw-scaled vipers, kraits, and Russell’s vipers.
The “big four” snake species that cause the most snakebites in India are completed by the Indian cobra. In just two decades, from 2000 to 2019, the nation recorded more than a million snake bite deaths, according to a 2020 study published in the journal eLife.
Eight of India’s 28 states—Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh—accounted for more than two-thirds of the deaths that were reported.
A similar incident happened in 2022 when a cobra was killed after being bitten by an eight-year-old boy. The snake had wrapped itself round the youngster’s arm and bit into his skin. But the boy then turned on the reptile and bit it back.
The episode happened in Pandarpadh village a remote area in central Chhattisgarh region of India. Deepak was attacked by the venomous reptile say reports in The New Indian Express. It grabbed on to him while he played outside the family home and spiralled itself around his arm, before biting him and injecting its deadly poison.