This little charmer calls these King Cobras her best friends – even though she has survived three venom-filled bites from them.
Villagers in Ghatampur, Uttar Pradesh, India, run in fear when they see eight-year-old Kajol Khan wandering the dusty streets with her deadly friends wrapped around her neck.
She said: ‘I have a lot of fun with the cobras. It hurts when they bite me but sometimes it’s my own fault because I tease them. It’s quite funny.’
Little Kajol comes from a long line of snake catchers, and hopes one day to join the family business
Kajol’s father, Taj Mohammad, 55, has worked as Ghatampur’s snake catcher for the past 45 years.
He has already passed on his skills to his son Gulab, 28. But now it seems Kajol, the youngest nine, is keen to join the family business.
‘I don’t like school,’ she said. ‘I much prefer working with the snakes.’
Her bond with the creatures – which stems from crawling around them as a baby – now means they are her favourite companions.
Since her friendship with the killers began she has been bitten on her stomach, her cheeks and most recently her arm. She was seriously ill but made a full recovery.
‘It hurts when they bite me but they don’t mean it,’ she said. ‘I get a little frightened when I see the blood but my father sorts me out. He rushes into the forest and comes back with the medicine.’