Mysterious insect bite claims youth’s life, two others ill

PRAYAGRAJ: An alleged mysterious venomous insect has caused panic in Chaubeypur village of Pratapgarh.If villagers are to be believed, a home guard’s son died while some others had to be admitted to the hospital after being bitten by the mysterious insect.

A team of officials and doctors are trying to identify the insect even as panic has also gripped the residents of nearby villages. Officials said the incident took place in Chaubeypur village of Antu area on Friday night.

Parasnath’s son Shashikant, 16, was in the field when he was bitten by some insect on his right shoulder. While initially he ignored the incident, late in the night, Shashikant started vomiting and had a stomachache. The family rushed him to the hospital where he died during treatment. Shashikant’s aunt, Manju Devi, who has come to attend his funeral the next day, was also bitten by some mysterious insect on her shoulder following which she was admitted to the hospital.

On Sunday night, Shashikant’s elder brother Chandrakant was also bitten on his right shoulder by the mysterious insect. Panicky Chandrakant used a knife to remove the skin of the area where he was bitten. He claimed the move helped in stopping the spread of poison in his body. Chandrakant was also admitted to the hospital.

A medical team visited the village on Monday when CMO Dr Arvind Kumar Srivastava came to know about the incident. However, the family of Parasnath could not provide any information about the insect.“The help of skin specialist will be taken to learn about the effect of the insect bite and how it caused serious problems to the victims,” said the CMO.