Man ‘used toxic COBRA to kill his wife and two-year-old daughter by releasing it in their bedroom while they slept’

An Indian man has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife and two-year-old daughter by releasing a poisonous cobra in their room.

The incident took place in Adheigaon, a village in the state of Odisha.

The 25-year-old man, identified as K Ganesh Patra, had a marital dispute with his wife K Basanti Patra (23). They got married in 2020 and had a daughter named Debasmita.

According to NDTV, the man allegedly bought the cobra from a snake charmer and said he would use it for religious purposes.

The 25-year-old man, identified as K Ganesh Patra (centre), had a marital dispute with his wife K Basanti Patra (23)

On October 6, Ganesh reportedly freed the snake from a plastic pot in the room where his wife and daughter were sleeping.

The next morning both were found dead from snakebites while the father claimed he had been sleeping in another room.

Ganesh told his neighbors that a snake had entered his house and bit his wife and child.

The villagers killed the snake and took the mother and daughter to a nearby hospital where they were declared brought dead.

Ganesh filed a police complaint and a case of unnatural death was registered.

Police Commissioner Jagmohan Meena said Ganesh’s father-in-law accused him of murder. Ganesh was arrested a month after the incident.

Suspicion grew about the circumstances of the death and the police questioned snake charmers in the area.

The villagers killed the snake and took the mother and daughter to a nearby hospital where they were pronounced dead (archive photo)

Ganesh initially denied the allegations but eventually confessed to his crimes during interrogation, police said.

Chief Inspector Meena added, “The suspect was arrested a month after the incident due to the delay in gathering evidence against him.

“We have now also received the autopsy report, which clearly shows that the mother-daughter duo’s death took place on the night of October 6.

“This raised suspicions that the reptile could have stayed in the same room for several hours until the morning after biting the couple.

“During questioning, he initially denied the accusation and later claimed that the snake may have entered the room on its own, but eventually confessed to having committed the crime.”