Abstract
Snake bite is an important public health issue in India and is almost always accidental in manner. Suicide by snake bite or injection of snake venom is extremely rare. Suicidal ideation and behavior is known to be influenced by various socio-economic and psychological factors. The method employed for suicide is also influenced by the occupation of the victim. We report a case where a snake charmer had attempted suicide by inflicting a bite by a monocled cobra.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Simpson
ID
Norris
RL
. Snakes of Medical Importance in India: Is the Concept of the “Big 4” Still Relevant and Useful? Wilderness Environ Med 2007 ; 18 : 2 –9 .
2.
Maloney
W
. The death of Cleopatra, a medical analysis of the theory of suicide by Naja Haje . WebmedCentral 2010 ; 1 : WMC00502 –WMC00502 .
3.Man apparently commits suicide via snakebite. Associated Press , 8 June 1987, http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1987/Man-Apparently-Commits-Suicide-Via-Snakebite/id-601cd85ebf1542463097b4defea01654 (accessed 25 March 2015) .
4.
Knight
B
Barclay
A
Mann
R
. Suicide by injection of snake venom . Forensic Sci 1977 ; 10 : 141 –145 .
5.Scientist’s suicide by injecting snake venom. The Sunday Herald , 5 August 1951, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19510805&id=QPxUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EJMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1471,4755540 (accessed 25 March 2015) .
6.
Yadlowski
JM
Tu
AT
Garriott
JC
. Suicide by snake venom injection . J Forensic Sci 1980 ; 25 : 760 –764 .
7.
Morgan
DL
Blair
HW
Ramsey
RP
. Suicide attempt by the intravenous injection of rattlesnake venom . South Med J 2006 ; 99 : 282 –284 .
8.
Strubel
T
Birkhofer
A
Eyer
F
. Attempted suicide by snake bite . Case report and literature survey . Nervenarzt 2008 ; 79 : 604 –606 .
9.Suicides in India, National Crime Record Bureau, 2014, http://ncrb.nic.in/adsi2006/Suicides06.pdf (accessed 25 March 2015) .
10.Gururaj G and Isaac M. Suicide Prevention: Information for Educational Institutions, NIMHANS/EPI/SUI.Preven/Education , 2003, http://www.nimhans.kar.nic.in/epidemiology/doc/ep_ft7.pdf (accessed 25 March 2015) .
11.First Aid and Snakebite Prevention Snakebite Treatment Support Concepts 2007, http://files.meetup.com/1166925/Snakebite_Protocol_India_2007.pdf (accessed 25 March 2015) .
12.
Stallones
L
Timothy
D
Bryan
JD
. Occupation and suicide: Colorado, 2004–2006 . Am J Ind Med 2013 ; 56 : 1290 –1295 .
