KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, July 1: A teenage girl who was a college student died of a snake bite near her house in Patamda in the rural area of East Singhbhum district on Sunday.
Though over 24 hours have passed since the snake bite victim Chintamani Hansda died, her family members have kept the body at their house and are not allowing the police to take it for postmortem.
The bereaved family members are reluctant to get the body to undergo the autopsy even after being convinced that an autopsy is necessary to get compensation of Rs 4 lakhs to the family by the Disaster Management Department of the state government.
Bit by snake while grazing cows in field
The incident took place at Bantodiha village in Lachhipur panchayat in Patamda at about 10 am on Sunday while Chintamani was making the cows graze in the field near her house.
She returned home from the field with the cattle after two hours and fell sick, without even not knowing she had been bitten by a poisonous snake in the field.
When her mouth filled with foam the family members suspected something wrong might have happened with the girl. On looking at her body meticulously they found the marks of a snake bite in the leg.
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The anxious family members rushed the girl who was in critical condition to MGM Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH)– about a 30-minute ride. At the hospital, the doctors on emergency duty declared her as brought dead.
Chintamani (17) was the younger daughter of Mahendra Hansda and would study at Patamda Intercollege at Jala. Sunday being a holiday, she had taken the cows to make them graze in the field.
Autopsy required for compensation but family brought body back home
Soon after she was declared dead, the doctors concerned asked the family members to let the body remain in the hospital itself for the necessary formality needed for postmortem. They had also convinced the bereaved family members that the Disaster Management Department would give compensation amounting to Rs 4 lakhs as it was a snake bite case, but the latter did not pay heed to the advice and brought the body back home.
OC, Patamda thana, Karampal Bhagat said the body is still lying at the victim’s house.
“We will go over to Mahendra Hansda’s house and will try to convince him to allow the police to seize the body for postmortem without which the compensation amount cannot be obtained, ” said Bhagat while talking to The Jharkhand Story.
