Botswana: Cobra Kills Three Women
Isaac Pinielo
28 January 2010



Francistown — Residents of Mokobaxane village between Orapa and Mopipi are reeling in shock following the death of three women who were bitten by a snake.

According to village chief, Meshack Kaponene one woman survived the snakebites but is still fighting for her life at Maun Primary Hospital.

He said the incident happened in the early hours of Monday morning, last week while the women were sleeping in the same hut. He said residents managed to hunt for the venomous snake and found it in a shallow hole inside the hut.

"It was a cobra and it appears it bit each of the women more than once, inflicting them with several snakebites. Villagers managed to hunt for it and killed it," said the chief.

The chief revealed that the deceased were an elderly woman aged 85, her daughter, 45, and granddaughter aged 40. The surviving woman is aged 59. The deceased women were buried yesterday. Family members could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, tragedy is not new in this family. Some years ago, one member of the family allegedly died and many others suffered severe stomachaches after eating a poisonous herb they had harvested from the bush.

That's odd! I thought that cobras could control the venom flow from a bite, and hence, unless really upset about something, the bite is not necessarily lethal. So, unless all three women were hunting down the snake and trying to kill it, the snake would not necessarily deliver fatal bites.
Peter.

In Moz all snakes are called "COBRA!!" by the natives. That may be an explanation.