Madurai man eats dead snake to ward off Covid-19; Arrested and fined Rs 7,000 by forest department

In a viral video, a man from Madurai was filmed eating a dead snake to ward off Covid-19 and was later arrested by the district forest department and slapped with a fine of Rs 7,000, according to a Times of India report.

The man, who has been identified as Vadivelu, 50, was seen claiming in the viral video that snakes serve as an antidote to Covid-19 and that he was consuming it to keep the disease at bay.

After the video was brought to the notice of Madurai district forest officer (DFO) S Anand, the DFO sent his men to arrest Vadivelu in the city's Perumalpatti area.

The DFO told the publication that Vadivelu, who hails from a very poor background, was in an inebriated state and some people, looking to take advantage of it, asked the 50-year old to eat the snake, which was lying dead inside a drain. The same people also asked him to make false claims on Covid-19.

The DFO added that the man was "lucky enough" not to bite into the snake's venom glands, as it was later identified as a common krait, whose neurotoxic venom can paralyse a human being.