Tamil Nadu: Girl dies of snakebite in roadless hamlet while villagers attempt to get her to hospital

A 13-year-old girl of Alakattu Vattuvanahalli panchayat, a hamlet located on a hillock in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu died of snakebite on Nov 28 after villagers struggled to take her to the nearest health center —about 8 Kms away from the hamlet, due to absence of a motorable road.

It took nearly two hours for the villagers to reach the bottom of the hill by carrying her on a doli — a wooden palanquin — for about 8km on an unmotorable road, the locals were quoted as saying.

The nearest public health centre at Seengadu is located over 2 km from the foothill. An auto was waiting to rush the victim, R Kasturi, to the health center but she died on the way, sources were quoted as saying.

A video showing villagers carrying the girl on a doli through rugged terrain went viral on social media on Nov 28.

The local residents shared the video to draw attention to their situation and urge authorities to take action. In the video, the villagers are seen struggling to navigate the steep path in a bid to seek medical help for the girl.

At least 40 families live in the hamlet devoid of any basic facilities, located at Pennagaram taluk in Dharmapuri. More than 60 children from the village walk around 10 km every day on muddy roads to reach the nearest school.

The villagers, mostly laborers, have to climb down the hill on foot to reach towns to eke out a living.

“We did everything we could to save her, but she died before we could reach the bottom of the hill. It takes more than an hour to trek down, and it takes even longer if someone has to be carried on a doli,” a Pasuvaraj, a local resident was quoted as saying.

He added that the girl was picking greens with her sisters when a snake bit her.

Another local resident said the villagers have long struggled with poor connectivity.

“This is not the first time such a tragedy has happened. Many elderly and sick people have died because we couldn’t reach the hospital on time. Our village is separated by the Kesarguli River, and trekking becomes harder during the rainy season. We want the state government to help us.” K Sivappa was quoted as saying.

An official from the Pennagaram Revenue Department was quoted as saying, “Most roads leading to Alakattu lie within the forest areas. We had paved mud roads for the villagers, but we will look into the incident.”