Indian man kills wife, daughter, with venomous cobra, squirms with guilt in police custody

An Indian man "used a venomous cobra to kill his wife and daughter, two years old, while they were sleeping in their bedroom", in Odisha's Ganjam district in the village of Adheigaon.

The 25-year-old male known as K Ganesh Patra, and his 23-year-old wife, K Basanti Patra, had a marital argument. 

They got married in 2020 and they welcomed a daughter, Debasmita. As of now, Ganesh has been arrested.

The culprit apparently paid a snake charmer for the cobra, claiming to utilise it for religious purposes, according to NDTV.

Ganesh is said to have let the snake out of a plastic container in his wife's and daughter's sleeping quarters on October 6.

The father claimed to have slept in a different room, but the next morning they were both discovered dead from snake bites.

Ganesh reported to his neighbours that his wife and kid had been bitten by a snake that had broken into his home.

After the mother and daughter were taken to a neighbouring hospital and the snake was killed, the townspeople pronounced them dead.

According to Ganjam Superintendent of Police Jagmohan Meena, Ganesh was accused of murder by his father-in-law. A month after the event, Ganesh was taken into custody.

As questions over the death's circumstances grew, local snake charmers were questioned by the police.

During questioning, Ganesh ultimately acknowledged his crimes, despite his initial denials, according to the police.

"The accused was arrested a month after the incident due to a delay in gathering evidence against him," Superintendent Meena continued.

"Meanwhile, we also received the post-mortem report clearly indicating that the death of the mother-daughter duo had occurred during late October 6 night."

"This raised suspicion about how could the reptile remain in the same room till morning several hours after biting the duo."

"During interrogation, he initially denied the allegation and later claimed that the snake might have entered the room on its own but eventually confessed to committing the crime."