A 10-year-old Dalit girl in Kerala’s Kollam district, who was under treatment for snake bite, died on Saturday night. Adhitya, a resident of Mancode’s Ambedkar Colony in Pathanapuram panchayat, was bitten by a snake in the wee hours of Saturday while she was sleeping. Though the child was taken to the Taluk Hospital in the region and then to a private hospital, she succumbed on Saturday night.
“Around 5 am on Saturday, she was tossing around in her sleep. When I asked her what happened, she said something had bitten her and that it might be ants. When I checked her, there was a small swelling. We took her to the hospital in an autorickshaw,” Adhitya’s mother Sindhu told Manorama News.
Though the family suspected that it was a snake bite, they discovered the snake only after the child was taken to the hospital.
“When we inspected the house later on Saturday morning, we found a common krait under the bed in the room,” said Mancode ward member KP Raju.
According to reports, the girl was sleeping on the floor when she was bitten by the snake. The family’s house is in a precarious condition. Visuals of the house show unplastered brick walls and a plastic sheet as roof. Reports suggest that the snake could have been hiding in the brick walls. The family is living in Ambedkar Colony at Mancode in a dilapidated house, and has not been able to secure money from any government project to build a house.
“I had applied for assistance to build a house. If we had a secure house, maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” Sindhu said.
The family had applied for a house under Life Mission, housing project of state government for the poor, they did not receive any help. The father of the girl told TNM later that they have applied for government help multiple times in the last ten years, but not recieved any. Read intv.
Meanwhile, talking to TNM, KP Raju rejected the allegation. “Earlier when aid for constructing a house was sanctioned, the family said no to it for the time being since Sindhu was pregnant and her husband was going abroad for work. He said he would come back and start construction after that.” he said. The ward member also added that as part of the third phase of Life Mission, the family has been now sanctioned money to construct a house.
Last November, another 10-year-old girl in Wayanad district died after being bitten by a snake in her school classroom.
Watch visuals of Adhitya's house: