NEW DELHI: An Indian woman who was bitten by a snake in her sleep and unknowingly breastfed poisoned milk to her daughter has died along with the child, police said on Friday.

The 35-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh state did not realise she had been bitten when she woke and breastfed her daughter.

The three-year-old girl and the mother fell ill on Thursday and both died before they could reach hospital, police inspector Vijay Singh said. The family spotted the snake in another room but the creature escaped.

A post-mortem is to be carried out but police have registered a case of accidental death, the officer added.

India is home to some 300 snake species and 60 are highly venomous, including the Indian cobra, krait, Russell’s viper and saw-scaled viper.

India accounts for 46,000 of the 100,000 snakebite deaths around the world each year, according to a 2011 study by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2018