A man in India, who was bitten by a snake, bit back the reptile twice, eventually killing it, Hindustan Times reported. 

The incident took place in India’s Bihar where a snake bit a railway employee Santosh Lohar, who then bit the snake back thinking it would reverse the venom’s effect. 

The snake died after being bitten by Santosh while he was taken to a hospital where he survived after proper medical treatment. He was discharged the next day. 

Santosh, 35, was a part of team laying railway tracks in a thickly-forested part of Rajauli and he was bitten by a snake when he was lying down to sleep.

The railway worker, without a second thought, held the snake and bit it twice, believing the local myth that biting the reptile back would save the person who was bitten. 

According to Hindustan Times, around 50,000 people are killed by snakebites annually in India. Around 90% of the bites are by these four snakes — common krait, Indian cobra, Russell’s viper and saw scaled viper.