Boudh: In a shocking incident, a father and his minor daughter died after they were reportedly bitten by a venomous snake in Odisha's Boudh district on Friday night. The deceased was identified as Sushant Kanhar and his minor daughter Preeti Kanhar. Thefamily belonged to Gumagarh village in Phulbani block of Kandhamal district but were living at Charichhak in Boudh. 

As per reports, Sushant and his daughter were sleeping when the snake bit them. When their health deteriorated, they figured that they were bitten by a snake and screamed for help. Neighbours rushed them to the district headquarters hospital in Kandhamal but the father-daughter duo succumbed during treatment. 

As the news spread, a pall of gloom descended on the village. 

Over the last few years, Odisha has been witnessing around 1,000 deaths annually due to snakebite. Considering the abnormally high cases of snake-bite related deaths, Odisha became the first state in the country to declare it a state-specific disaster in 2015. In 2022, snakebite infact was the second worse state-specific disaster after drowning.