An Indian woman and her daughter have died after she accidentally fed the baby with breast milk that was poisoned by snake venom. The woman had been bitten by the snake in her sleep and she didn’t know about it.
The 35-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh state did not realise she had been bitten when she woke and breastfed her daughter.
The three-year-old girl and the mother fell ill on Thursday and both died before they could reach hospital, Police inspector Vijay Singh told AFP.
He said:
They (mother and daughter) were reported to have been poisoned by snake venom after the mother was bitten by the snake and later fed her baby with her breast milk. According to the report we got at the station, they both died on their way to the hospital after the fell sick”
The family spotted the serpent in another room but the creature escaped.
A post-mortem is to be carried out, but Police have registered a case of accidental death, the officer added.
India is home to some 300 snakes species and 60 are highly venomous, including the Indian cobra, krait, Russell’s viper and saw-scaled viper.
India accounts for 46,000 of the 100,000 snake bite deaths around the world each year, according to a 2011 study by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
