Bengaluru man dies after being bitten by snake that hid in his footwear

A 41-year-old private firm employee died after being bitten by a snake that had slithered into his footwear in Bannerghatta on Saturday.

The deceased, identified as Manju Prakash, was a resident of Ranganatha Layout, who lived with his wife, two children, mother, brother, and brother’s family.

According to the police, the incident occurred around 12.30 p.m. when Prakash ventured out of the house to buy sugarcane juice for his mother. He returned home, handed over the juice to his sister-in-law and asked her to give it to his mother, before going to sleep.

After an hour, when family members tried to wake him up, they saw that he was frothing at his mouth and found a bite mark on his toe. He was then rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, citing snake bite as the reason.

The family members reached home and found a dead snake — a small Russell’s Viper — inside his footwear. The police suspect that the snake, unable to come out, had suffocated to death.

Investigation revealed that Prakash had lost sense in his leg after a road accident in 2016, which prevented him from feeling the snake bite. The poison spread quickly and he died while sleeping, the police said quoting the doctor.

The Bannerghatta Police have registered a case of unnatural death and are awaiting the postmortem report to rule out any foul play.

The place where Prakash lived is adjacent to a forest, and his family members have urged their neighbours to remain careful and check their shoes everytime before wearing them.