Snake claims two lives

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A poisonous snake claimed the lives of two children on the same night at Maharambaikkulam in Vavuniya. Sisters Amarasree Naharanee, 5 and Amarasree Sharmiladevi, 2 died on Sunday night.

Mr. Amarasree's impoverished family has five children, four girls and a boy.

Last Monday, the children went to bed after their dinner, around 7.30 p.m. as usual.

Around 9.00 p.m. on Sunday night, on hearing their 2 year old child, Sharmila crying, the parents went to see what had happened and found nothing untoward.

However, after noticing that the child foaming at mouth, the frightened parents rushed her to the hospital in Vavuniya, 3 km from Maharambaikkulam, in an autorikshaw.

However, the doctor at the OPD examined the child and found that she had already died.

The distraught parents handed over their daughter's body to the hospital authorities and returned home as it was late and the other children were on their own at home.

The distressed family went to sleep in a state of shock that night.

However, after a while, to their horror, the parents heard another of their children, Naharanee, 5, also whimpering.

When they went to see her they found Naharanee foaming at mouth, just like her sister who had died a few hours earlier.

They took Naharanee to the same hospital and the child was taken to the intensive care unit. However, the child could not be saved as she died at around 5.00 a.m. in the morning.

On Monday, the coroner, Mr. Sivanathan Kishor conducted an inquest.

The doctor, Mr. Anushiyanthan, who examined the dead sisters said the cause of the death was snake bite. Sharmila had been bitten on her thumb and Naharanee on her neck.