A Karnataka man’s stunts with three snakes ended seriously when one of the snakes attacked him. Maaz Sayed, a snake devotee from Sirsi, was recorded dealing with three cobras in what the future held as a “horrific” manner. He was seen crouching in front of the snakes, pulling at their tails and moving his hands about – all gestures that the cobras could have perceived as threatening and reacted aggressively.
Unfortunately for Mr. Sayed – whose YouTube channel is full of similar videos -, this is exactly what happened. His most recent stunt ended on a terrifying note when one of the snakes suddenly struck him. Footage that has gone viral online shows the snake lunging at the stuntman and biting his knee. The reptile refused to let go even as the shocked man tried to pull it away.
Sharing the video on Twitter, Indian Forest Service official Susanta Nanda scrutinized the snake handler. “This is just a horrific way of handling cobras…The snake considers the movements as threats and follows the movement. At times, the response can be fatal,” he wrote.
A Facebook post shared by Priyanka Kadam, President and Founder of Snakebite Healing and Education Society, reveals that Mr. Sayed was hospitalized after the cobra bit him.
Cobra is the common name of various elapid snakes, and all known cobras are venomous. In Mr. Sayed’s case, he reportedly got 46 vials of antidote venom after his stunt went wrong.
Ms. Kadam shared photos of the 20-year-old snake handler in the hospital. “He is recuperating in a private hospital in Sirsi, Karnataka,” she wrote in an update shared yesterday. While Ms. Kadam had earlier called for Maaz Sayed to be booked for “putting up content which is clearly an abuse of wildlife”, she later suggested that an expert could try guiding the youth.
“A specialist can maybe take a stab at directing him. He wasn’t pompous. Talked deferentially. He is as yet unwell. Will associate with him once he completely recuperates,” she wrote.
