roopa who works at brc the results for the animal are deadly she recalls the case of a huge cobra at gottigere only a few kilometres from the centre a crowd gathered and cut off the snakes escape and a local brave used a stick to hit the animals head killing it instantly the head was almost split into two she said treating reptiles presents its own challenges at pfa silambarasan has encountered turtles and tortoises which have been run over by vehicles to him along dr nawaz and dr karthik falls the task of reconstructing shells and stitching together wounds sometimes they have to coax recalcitrant patients out of their shells for treatment since snakes skin doesnt heal as fast as that of mammals or birds dr roopa often has to keep injured snakes in the centre till they have shed their skin a few times and along with this they all run the risk of being bitten in the course of their work most snakes use dry bites in which venom is not injected but wet bites do occur says dr roopa if one is bitten she recommends staying calm going to hospital and simply monitoring for the signs of envenomation before proceeding with treatment but other practices are darker still only a few days ago the brc played host to a slender loris and they currently house four barn owls and a mottled wood owl all were meant to be victims in black magic rituals which are particularly prevalent in the city roopa has encountered live barn owls whose skulls have been opened with surgical precision to expose the brainlorises suffer a more gory fate they are used as voodoo dolls when rescued they arrive with severed limbs damaged genitals and needles inserted into their vital organs and eyes on her desk stands a macabre and sobering reminder of this endangered schedule ii species a foetus of a loris suspended in formaldehyde its mother arrived a few days earlier showing signs of trauma and use in black magic she died a day after her miscarriage ironically this barbaric practice is typically limited to the privileged and wealthy your average labourer construction worker or middleclass individual probably cant afford to get a loris pointed out roopa the mantravadi from what i know decides on a victim depending on how much money you have if you have say a hundred rupees to give him hell probably just cut up a lime with some kumkum on the side of the road if you have some more itll be an egg if you have a little more itll become a chicken she estimates that a loris probably costs lakhs to use in a ritual it is telling that most lorises are seized from slightly wealthier localities such as malleshwaram and electronics city what roopa refers to tongueincheek as the mla beltthe fortune teller is reputed to be able to connect the loris with his clients intended victim often this is done