Nahan girl claims surviving 34 snakebites, docs not impressed

SHIMLA : An 18-year-old girl — Manisha — of Nahan in Sirmaur district claims she has survived 34 snakebites even as doctors differ. Doctors found no traces of snake venom in her blood samples when she was admitted to Dr YS Parmar Medical College, Nahan, after being “bitten by a snake for the 34th time” in three years. Father, Sumer Verma, said after every snakebite, she loses conscious for some time. However, nobody, except for the girl, has ever seen a snake she had been bitten by.

“None has seen a snake but one can see the impressions of the fangs on her body,” Sumer told HT. Parents also took the girl to astrologers. “We took her to panditji, who said she had a link with snakes from her previous birth,” he said. “I lose conscious whenever I see a snake,” Manisha said.

But doctors are not convinced that she has been bitten as many times. “It can be an imagination,” Dr KK Prashar, medical superintendent, Nahan medical college, said and has suggested psychological counselling for her.

“It could be a coincident that the girl was bitten by non-poisonous snakes, but 34 times is quite unbelievable,” Dr Prashar said, adding, “We believe in test reports and so far none of the tests confirmed presence of any type of snake venom in her blood. There are no marks of snake bites either.” Psychiatry department head at the Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Dr Ravi Chand Sharma, said, “I don’t think it is true. It can be an attention-catching tactic.”

However, Sandeep Sood, a Shimla-based veterinarian, said, “There is possibility that girl is bitten by snakes and the blood may have developed a mechanism to undo the effect of the venom.”