A 41-year-old software engineer from Karnataka lost his life after being bitten by a venomous snake that had hidden inside his footwear.
The victim, identified as Manju Prakash from Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta area, was fatally bitten by a Russell’s viper that had coiled itself inside his Crocs on Saturday afternoon.
Police said the incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. when Prakash stepped out briefly to buy sugarcane juice for his mother. After returning home, he handed the drink to his sister-in-law, asking her to serve it to his mother, and went to rest.
He lived in Ranganatha Layout with his wife, two children, his mother, and his brother’s family. Roughly an hour later, relatives found him unresponsive, foaming at the mouth, with a visible snakebite mark on his toe.
Family members believe he may not have realized he had been bitten because he lost sensation in one leg after a bus accident in 2016 that required surgery.
When checking the house, relatives discovered a small Russell’s viper trapped inside his footwear. Authorities suspect the reptile suffocated while trying to escape. Though Prakash was rushed to a nearby hospital, doctors declared him dead on arrival and confirmed the cause as a snakebite.
Russell’s vipers, part of India’s notorious “big four” venomous snakes along with the common krait, Indian cobra, and saw-scaled viper, are infamous for their highly painful and dangerous bites.
Police have registered the case as an unnatural death and are awaiting a post-mortem report to rule out foul play. Local reports note that the neighborhood is close to several green spaces and parks, from which the snake may have entered the residence.
