Phulbani, Aug 2: In a heart-wrenching incident in Odisha’s Kandhamal district, a teenage girl carried her snake-bitten mother on her back for five kilometers through a dense forest due to lack of proper roads but couldn’t save her owing to a delay in the medical treatment, locals said on Saturday.

The deceased has been identified as Balamadu Majhi, a resident of Dumeripada village under Tumudibandh block in the district.

According to the sources, Balamadu was bitten by a venomous snake while she was sleeping in her hut late last night. Her family immediately called the 108 ambulance service, but due to the absence of motorable roads, the vehicle could only reach Saramundi, eight kilometers away from their village.

With no other option and time slipping away, Balamadu’s daughter, Rajani carried her unconscious mother onto her back and trekked five kilometers through rugged jungle terrain.

After reaching Saramundi, Rajani with the help of the locals arranged a motorcycle to cover the remaining distance to the ambulance. Balamadu was first taken to Tumudibandh Hospital and then shifted to Baliguda Sub-Divisional Hospital as her condition deteriorated. However, the attending doctors declared her “brought dead”.

The family and villagers blamed the death on the lack of road connectivity and the delay in accessing emergency healthcare. Rajani, now left with three younger brothers, had also lost her father years earlier under similar circumstances. After the post-mortem, the family carried Balamadu’s body back home on a cot, retracing the same path she had taken in life.

This incident has sparked outrage in the tribal community and renewed calls for urgent infrastructure development in the tribal dominant district.

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