A housewife named Mst Snigdha Khatun, 19, has died after being bitten by a snake while cooking in Ishwardi, Pabna.

The incident happened at about 6:30pm on Thursday (18 September) in Patirajpur village of the upazila. She was taken to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, where a doctor declared her dead at about 10pm.

Snigdha Khatun was the wife of Md Zubayer Hossain of Patirajpur village. They had married five months earlier.

When she went into the kitchen of her home to cook, a venomous snake bit her on the left foot. Family members and neighbours came running when she screamed. She was first taken to the upazila health complex and, after first aid, to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH), where a doctor declared her dead on arrival.

Her neighbour Md Ahsan Habib said that after she was brought to the upazila health complex, she was kept there for about an hour and a half without being given any antivenom and was then referred to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, where the doctor on duty declared her dead.

Dr Tasnim Tamanna Swarna, the doctor on duty at Ishwardi Upazila Health Complex, said no dangerous symptoms of a venomous snakebite were seen at first. When the family were asked to wait a little for tests, they took the patient to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on their own, she said. "I learned from you that she has died."

Ishwardi upazila health and family planning officer Dr Ali Ehsan said he did not know about the matter. "But our hospital has antivenom ready 24 hours a day. I can't say at the moment why the patient was not given antivenom. The doctor on duty can say," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.