Palghar: Snakebite Claims Life Of 16-Year-Old Girl In Dahanu, Raising Concerns Over Hospital Treatment

A 16-year-old girl succumbed to a snakebite at her home in Dahanu on Saturday, marking the fourth such incident in the last four months. The deceased, identified as Deepa Laxman Lahange, was a tenth-grade student who had returned to Dahanu taluka for the Ganeshotsav vacation. On September 20, Deepa was bitten by a snake at her residence around 3 a.m. She was promptly taken to a nearby hospital, but as her condition deteriorated, she was referred to Cottage Hospital, where she sadly passed away during treatment.

Questions over her death

Deepa's grieving relatives are now raising questions regarding the treatment she received at SDH Kasa, specifically why she was not transferred to a hospital equipped with ventilator support in a timely manner.

This unfortunate incident follows a series of snakebite-related fatalities in the district. A 7-year-old girl lost her life due to a snakebite in tribal Mokhada on May 16, and on July 27, another woman met a similar fate. Additionally, on September 17, a person working on a fishing boat in Wadrai also died due to a snakebite. The district has been grappling with a shortage of anti-venom injections, and concerns have been raised about the hospitals' seemingly lax approach to such cases.

Success stories

However, there have been some success stories in recent months. Last month, two patients were successfully treated at the same Primary Health Center (PHC) after being bitten by snakes in separate incidents. A 14-year-old, bitten by a common krait on August 1, was able to return home within two days after receiving treatment. Furthermore, a 22-year-old man, bitten by a cobra while in a field, was revived through cardiopulmonary resuscitation after he promptly sought help at the PHC within an hour of the snakebite.