Man chews dead snake to protect COVID-19, arrested & fined

Chennai: A man who was filmed eating a snake near Vadipatti was arrested by forest department on Thursday. The video, which went viral on social media, showed Vadivelu, 50, an agriculture coolie from Perumalpatti, eating a snake.

The man is seen claiming that snakes were good antidotes to Covid-19 and that he was eating one to keep the disease at bay. The video was taken to the notice of Madurai district forest officer S Anand, who sent his personnel and arrested the man from Perumalpatti. The DFO told media that the man hailed from a very poor background.

As he was inebriated, some people instigated him to eat the snake which was found dead in a drain. They also egged him on to make the statements on Covid. He chewed the snake, which was already dead, but he was lucky enough not to bite into its venom glands as it was later identified as a common krait,’’ he said.

The common krait’s venom is neurotoxic which could paralyse a human being. The man was also slapped with a fine of Rs 7,000 for his act by the forest department.