3 minor girls die due to superstition after snake bite in Jharkhand village

Three minor girls of Goruduba village in Simdega of Jharkhand died after a snake bit them while they were asleep. After the snakebite, instead of taking the girls to the hospital as they could not call an ambulance due to poor connectivity, the family apparently did exorcism and chanting all night.

Simdega: Three minor girls died due to snakebite in Simdega district of Jharkhand. After the snakebite, instead of taking the girls to the hospital, the family did exorcism and chanting all night.

The three girls went to sleep after celebrating the Nawakhani festival on Sunday in Gauriduba village, 46 km from the district headquarters. Meanwhile, during the night, the snake bite two sisters Ankita Lakra, Harshita Lakra and one of their relatives, Edlin Ekka. After this, the family kept calling for an ambulance but due to lack of network in the village, the phone was not connected. The helpless family kept the three girls in the village overnight and doing magic to keep them alive.

It all continued till Monday morning. After this, when the police reached the village, a lot of effort was made to take the girls to the hospital. Due to lack of road facilities, the family took the three girls on a cot and walked for one and a half kilometres.

Desperate villagers carry the girls bitten by snake to hospital.

After this, they completed the journey of 5 kilometres by carrying the girls on their shoulders. The girls were taken to the Referral Hospital from an ambulance parked on a paved road. The doctor of the referral hospital Dinesh declared the three girls brought dead.

The family did not agree even after this and remained adamant on taking the girls to Odisha. Under pressure from the villagers, the police took the girls to someone legitimate in Jagangpur, Odisha, but the lives of the girls could not be saved.

Doctor Dinesh of Referral Hospital told ETV Bharat that all three girls had died before they were brought to the hospital. If treatment started immediately after the snake bites, their life could have been saved. Thethaitangar Police Station in-charge Satyendra Kumar said that there is a deep penetration of superstition in the villages and even after a million attempts of sensitizing them, it has not been eradicated from the villagers.

This incident shows how the health system in remote areas of Jharkhand is inadequate and far from the reach of people. Without a proper mobile network nor better hospitals, the commoners ultimately depend on God to save their lives. The loss of three lives questions the people responsible for not providing adequate medical care and infrastructure in the villages.