A man in Tamil Nadu was arrested and fined Rs 7,000 for consuming a snake. Disturbing visuals of Vadivel, a 50-year-old agriculture coolie, consuming a venomous snake had surfaced on social media earlier this week. He was heard claiming that snakes have been great antidotes to Covid-19 in a video that has been circulating on the net, according to Times Of India. Vadivel was arrested by the forest division on Thursday.
The 50-year-old, who belongs to the Perumalpatti village in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district, was fined Rs 7,000 for the crime right after environmentalists alerted police to the video. According to an India Today report, Vadivel claimed that he had caught the snake in a field and killed it prior to consuming it.
However, Madurai District Forest Officer S Anand told Times Of India that he had been inebriated at the time of the incident and had been instigated to consume the snake by other folks. Luckily for Vadivel, he did not bite into the venom glands of the snake, which was identified as a frequent krait. The frequent krait is a species of very venomous snakes native to the Indian subcontinent. Its venom consists of potent neurotoxins that can even be fatal for humans if not treated.
The snake had been located dead in a drain, the DFO stated, adding that folks who instigated him to consume it also egged him on to make misleading statements on Covid.
There are expanding issues about an “infodemic” or a wave of fake news and misinformation about the coronavirus. There is presently no recognized remedy for the virus, though a quantity of vaccines are now accessible. Medical authorities tension the greatest way to guard against COVID-19 is to practice social distancing, put on face masks and regularly wash your hands with soap or disinfectant.