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| November 23, 2009 | Chhattisgarh man, a snake venom junkie | | Jashpur (Chhattisgarh): A young man named Pilu Sahay of Bansjhal village in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district has a bizarre addiction
of consuming snake venom. To fulfil his need for venom, Sahay first catches a
snake from the forests or other open fields in the vicinity of his village, extracts
venom and stores it for his use. Sahay, now in his thirties, claims to have been
consuming venom for the past two decades, 21 years to be precise. He also catches
poisonous snakes from the adjoining villages and later frees them in the forests
for the safety of fellow villagers. "I have an addiction for snakes, I get myself
bitten by the snakes. I drink the venom by mixing it with uncooked rice. The bites
do not scare me, in fact, I love being bitten by the snakes. For me, consuming
snake venom is like consuming any other food like pulses," Sahay said. Sahay further
mentioned that he learnt this skill from his master whose name was not disclosed
and who also had a habit of consuming venom. On their part, the villagers of Bansjhal
and nearby hamlets feel that Sahay is godsend, as he catches venomous snakes,
which sneak into the houses of the villagers. Despite the creepy habit of Sahay
consuming snake venom, the Snake Information Centre located at the district
headquarters has appreciated his other jobs such as catching snakes from houses and releasing them in the forests. "Pilu is not scared of snakes because he knows about all
the activities of the snakes deeply. He catches the snakes in order to free the
people from the fear of being bitten by the snakes. A snake attacks humans only
when it feels that the latter is posing a threat to the former. If one adapts
easy measures of tackling a snake, it will never bite," said Dr. Ajay Sharma,
in-charge of the Snake Information Centre. Earlier, Sahay's family used to get
scared of his weird habit, but now they have got used to it and live fearlessly. | |
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