On the eve of Raksha Bandhan, the festival that celebrates the sacred bond between brothers and sisters, pyres of a boy and his sister were burnt together at Bassian village, near Raikot, in Ludhiana district.The girl lost her life first after a snakebite early on Wednesday morning and later, her brother died in the evening. The deceased were identified as eight-year-old Jobanpreet Singh and six-year-old Jaspreet Kaur.Jaspreet studies in Class I while her brother studies in Class III. The incident has left the family shattered.As per information, the children were sleeping in the courtyard of their home. Initially, their family members thought the kids had been bitten by a mosquito and they took the matter lightly. However, when the children struggled to breathe and began crying loudly, the family noticed a sting on their hands. They also found a snake under the cot, which further escalated their worries. Both children were rushed to a hospital.Sources said around 3 am on Wednesday, Jobanpreet told his grandmother Jinder Kaur that he was bitten by an insect on his hand. At first, his grandmother thought it was a mosquito. When Jobanpreet felt uneasiness and started crying loudly, other family members woke up. A sting mark was visible on his hand.On founding the snakebite, Jobanpreet’s grandmother tied his hand tightly to prevent the spread of the poison to other parts of the body. Meanwhile, Jobanpreet began having trouble in breathing. By then, Jaspreet woke up and asked her father to take her brother to the hospital. Soon, her condition also started deteriorating and she began to faint. The family rushed both children to the Civil Hospital, Raikot.Doctors at the hospital confirmed snakebite and declared Jaspreet dead two hours after the incident while her brother Jobanpreet’s condition was critical. He was referred to the CMCH in Ludhiana, where he was admitted to the pediatric ward ICU.Doctors tried hard to save Jobanpreet but the snake venom had spread throughout his body due to which he could not be saved.The deceased’s father, Amandeep Singh, a daily wager, said due to the hot weather, the family often sleeps on cots in the courtyard and everyone was sleeping there at the time of the incident.Meanwhile, a villager, Jagtar Singh, said the victims’ family was poor and they could not even afford treatment. Some villagers collected money to fund the treatment of the children but unfortunately the siblings could not be saved.