Two-year-old bites cobra to death after attack
Asia
By
Mulki Ali
| Jul 28, 2025
In a tale that seems to leap straight from mythology into reality, a fearless two-year-old boy from Bihar’s West Champaran district left an entire village in awe after biting a cobra to death.
In the incident, as reported by The Times of India, little Govinda, son of Sunil Sah, was playing innocently outside his home in Bankatwa village near Bettiah on a quiet Friday afternoon when the unthinkable happened.
In a playful mood, the toddler hurled a brick at what he thought was just a snake. But the reptile — a cobra — wasn’t as amused. Provoked, it slithered aggressively and coiled itself tightly around the boy’s tiny arm.
What happened next has left even seasoned doctors baffled. Instead of panicking or crying, young Govinda responded with a move that stunned everyone — he sank his tiny teeth into the snake and bit it so hard that the deadly reptile died on the spot.
“When we saw the snake curled around his arm, we screamed and rushed towards him. But before we could get there, he had already bitten it,” his grandmother, Mateshwari Devi, told The Times of India, still shaken by the unbelievable scene.
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Govinda fainted shortly after the ordeal and was rushed to a nearby health centre, before being transferred to the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) in Bettiah.
Doctors described the case as “highly unusual” and noted that the snake most likely died from severe trauma to the head and mouth inflicted by the toddler’s bite.
Miraculously, the venom’s effect on Govinda was mild, largely thanks to the swift medical intervention. “Timely treatment saved Govinda’s life. He is now stable and under close observation,” Dr Saurabh Kumar of GMCH Bettiah told The Times of India.
Locals have drawn mythical comparisons to Lord Krishna’s legendary slaying of the serpent Kaliya Naag in the Yamuna, turning Govinda into a pint-sized folk hero overnight.
From a playful afternoon gone wrong to a headline-grabbing act of sheer instinct and courage, the toddler’s bizarre battle with the cobra has now become the stuff of legend in Bihar — a fearless act that will be told and retold for years to come.