Man bitten by pet snake, dies

KOLKATA - A man in West Bengal, who kept poisonous snakes as pets, died after one of the reptiles bit him fatally when he was feeding them, officials said Friday.

Saifuddin Gaji, a resident of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, was keeping the snakes for the last five years, a district official said. He collected them from around the district and kept them in glass containers in his house.

He used to feed these snakes with his own hand. While feeding a cobra with a frog Wednesday, Gaji was bitten on the hand, the official said.

He was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but succumbed to the venom later.