ONGOLE: The craze for a selfie with a snake claimed the life of a youth in Nellore. According to police officials, 32-year-old Polamreddy Manikantha Reddy, who belongs to a famer’s family in BoddikuraPadu village of Tallur mandal in Prakasam district, was running a juice shop situated near the Kovur junction of the Kandukur town limits in Nellore.
On Tuesday evening, a snake charmer came to the juice shop and informed Manikantha that he has snakes, which were harmless as their fangs had been removed. Following which, he requested the snake charmer to let him take a selfie with the snake. The youth took selfie by wearing the snake around his neck. However, when he was taking the snake off his body, it bit him on his hand. The snake catcher along with Manikantha managed to catch the snake.
However, when Manikantha asked about the snake bite, the snake charmer assured him saying that it is a harmless snake as its fangs were already removed a day ago. Though the locals shifted him to the Ongole-Government General hospital, he breathed his last in early hours of Wednesday. A case has been registered.