Nabarangpur: A youth was hospitalised as he was bitten by a cobra while trying to kiss it in an inebriated condition in Odisha’s Naranagpur district.
The youth, identified as Madhab Gauda of Patri village under Dabugaon police limits was moving around a forest of nearby village Jambaguda where he came across the cobra. Almost in semi-conscious condition, Madhab wanted to fun with the venomous snake and caught hold of it.
Later, he brought the snake to his village and started to play with it as a show of bravery on the main road. As the villagers gathered there, he started dancing with the snake slinging from his snake. Though the villagers told him to release the snake as it was highly poisonous, he did not listen to them and continued to play spiritedly.
As he held the cobra’s head and kissed it, the snake bit him on his lips. Though he started bleeding from the lips, he did not let the snake go. Meanwhile, a villager told Madhab that he would give him Rs 50, if he released the snake.
With the lure of money, Madhab took the cobra to the forest to release it. Still not satisfied with his bravado, he tried to stamp it. In return, the cobra struck Madhab again, this time on his feet.
As Madhab fell unconscious, the villagers called an ambulance and rushed him to a hospital in Papadahandi. Later, he was shifted to district headquarters hospital at Nabarangpur. His condition was stated to be stable.
