Man eats snake to 'keep Covid-19 at bay'

A man ate a dead snake to “protect” himself from the coronavirus (Covid-19).

The incident occurred in India’s Tamil Nadu. 50-year-old Vadivel was arrested and slapped a fine of Rs7,000 after a video of him eating a venomous snake surfaced on social media.

He claimed that snakes are good antidotes to Covid-19 and keep the deadly virus at bay.

According to reports, the man caught the reptile in a field and killed it before eating it.

A forest officer in Madurai district said the agriculture worker had been instigated to eat the snake by other people. He had been inebriated at the time of the incident.

Luckily, the man didn’t bite into the venom glands of the snake, identified as a common krait, a species of highly venomous reptiles native to the Indian subcontinent.

Its venom consists of powerful neurotoxins that can even be fatal for humans if not treated. The reptile had been found dead in a drain, the forest officer said.