Taken by one of the big four: Snakebite at Maharashtra tribal school

A common krait bit six girls sleeping at a tribal school in Gadchiroli’s Japtalai village, resulting in the deaths of three due to venom. This report mainly highlights governance issues in Maharashtra’s forested areas

Published - August 16, 2026 05:45 am IST

Family members of Anu Koreti, who was 8 years old when she died of snakebite in Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Eight-year-old Anu Koreti’s eyes twinkled as she raved about the performances put together to celebrate World Tribal Day on August 9. She clapped to the dance performances and later raved to her older brother about how much she had enjoyed them. That was the last conversation she had before going to bed at a tribal residential school in Dhanora, Gadchiroli district, in Maharashtra. The programme honoured tribal culture, and gave a call for tribal empowerment.

For Anu and her two older siblings studying here, their only hope for a better future away from poverty was this tribal residential school. For them, and for the two generations of Gonds, a Scheduled Tribe, who studied in the private, aided primary and secondary Ashram School in Japtalai in Dhanora, empowerment meant a window to education.

On the intervening night of August 9 and 10, as Anu and 111 girls in the school lay on the hostel floor, a common krait found its way into the dormitory. It bit six girls, all between 8 and 14 years, killing three. Anu was one of them.

One of the girls was airlifted to a hospital in Nagpur, Maharashtra’s no. 2 capital. She is now home and recovering. One continues to be serious, on ventilator support, at a hospital in Gadchiroli, but out of danger. Another is on her way to recovery.

Residents question the lack of medical and general infrastructure in one of the most underdeveloped and remote parts of Maharashtra, Gadchiroli. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is its guardian minister. Gadchiroli, earlier a part of the Red Corridor, is the eastern-most district of Maharashtra. It has a dense forest cover of over 75%, with rich wildlife. The tribal population is scattered in several remote hamlets and settlements. In the last five years, 99 people have died of snakebite in Gadchiroli.

Editorial |​ Tough call: On India and snakebites

Teachers and parents say there are several questions to be answered by those in power, around the lack of school infrastructure, the lack of an ambulance and accessible medical services, and a deficient road network.

What happened that night?

The school where the incident occurred was run by veteran Congress leader and former MP Marotrao Kowase. He is among the five against whom separate FIRs have been registered under several bailable sections. The school’s licence will be cancelled, the Maharashtra government has said. They are also appointing a third party to audit all the 513 private, aided residential tribal schools in the State, Tribal Affairs Minister Ashok Uike told the media.

Prabhakar Mudke, the peon who was present on the night when six girls were bitten at the Ashram School in Japtalai village, Dhanora taluka, Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

In Japtalai village, the orange school building stands out against the backdrop of fresh green fields and the colours of the Indian flag. From its population of 1,000 to 1,200 people, around 50 local children study in this school. Most of the children on the rolls are from Etapalli, a village at least five hours away by road.

Set on grounds about the size of half a football field is a two-storied main building, with classrooms on both floors. In a separate building are a few halls. The biggest of them is one measuring 850 square feet. This is where over 100 schoolgirls studying from classes 1 to 10 live and sleep. There are no beds, only mattresses. The only bed is the one for the cook, a contractual worker, who was with the girls at night.

Now, there are mosquito nets, newly fitted. “Had they been there that night, the snake could not have entered. We had raised this so many times in the past, but nobody paid attention,” says school’s cook Tanabai Sanku Durve. She was sleeping with the girls on the night of the incident, to fill in for the school’s woman supervisor, who had allegedly gone on leave without the principal’s approval. She is currently absconding after an FIR has been registered against her for negligence.

Near the window are fresh tyre marks. The parents say the pile of bricks and wooden logs has been removed from near the open windows.