Vellore (Tamil Nadu): In a tragic incident highlighting how rural India is still devoid of basic facilities, a baby girl bitten by a snake lost her life as her parents could not reach the nearby hospital in time due to the lack of a pucca road in their village in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu.
Viji, a labourer, and his wife Priya, who live in Athimarathu Kollai village of Anaicut Taluk of the district were sleeping in front of their house along with their 18-month-old baby girl Danushka when a snake from the nearby forest entered the residential area.
The snake bit the child in her sleep. Hearing her cry, the parents woke up in shock seeing their child writhing in pain. They immediately rushed to the nearest government hospital in the Anaicut area for treatment. However, with no pucca roads, the couple had to walk over 10 kilometres and, as such, took a long time to reach the hospital. By then, the poison had spread all over the child's body and the doctors at the hospital declared her brought dead.