A 17-year-old teenager from India’s Uttar Pradesh state is allegedly living in fear after being bitten by the same wild snake a whopping eight times in a single month.

Yashraj Mishra, from Rampur village in Basti district, reportedly lives in constant fear after being targeted by a snake for reasons that remain unknown. After learning of his plight, the 17-year-old’s family took him to the village doctor for treatment and also appealed to snake charmers, but nothing seemed to stop the snake. After he was bitten for the third time, the family even shipped the teen to a relative’s home in a neighboring village, but the slithering reptile allegedly tracked him down and bit him again…

Photo: WikiImages/Pixabay

“After my son was bitten for the third time by the snake, I sent him to my relative Ramji Shukla’s place in Bahadurpur village,” the boy’s father, Chandramauli Mishra, said. “A few days later, my son saw the same snake near the house and he has bitten again. Yashraj was hospitalized and treated.”

Indian press agency Indo-Asian News Service reported that Yashraj’s last encounter with the snake occurred on August 25, when he was bitten for the eighth time in less than a month. The teen now feels targeted by the snake and is reportedly traumatized.

“We cannot understand why this snake is targeting Yashraj. The boy is now mentally disturbed and lives in the constant fear of the snake,” Chandramauli  said. “We have performed ‘puja’ (worship ritual) several times and have even called snake charmers to catch the snake, but all have proved futile.”

No information about the snake species has yet been revealed, but if the boy really has survived eight bites from it so far, I think it’s safe to assume that it’s not a poisonous snake.