When a snake appears in a crowded neighbourhood, panic usually follows. But for residents across parts of Southern Kerala, help often arrives in the form of Beat Forest Officer Roshni G S, whose calm, swift rescues have made her one of the most recognised faces in wildlife response.

A member of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) under the Paruthippally forest range, Roshni has so far relocated over 1,000 snakes — venomous and non-venomous — from human habitations to the wild. Her work has now earned her the 2025 Sthree Shakthi Award from the Kerala Women’s Commission, presented annually as part of International Women’s Day observances.

Roshni had already drawn national attention through videos of her handling massive pythons, having rescued 176 so far. While announcing the awards, commission chairperson P Satheedevi on Monday singled out her capture of a king cobra — the world’s longest venomous snake — from a residential locality at Maruthanmoodu on the Vithura–Peppara road in Thiruvananthapuram last year. She secured the reptile in just six minutes.

“The recognition feels huge, and I’m extremely happy,” Roshni told Onmanorama. “I’ve received many honours before, but this is the first from the state government, which makes it special. It means even more that the Commission selected me directly, without any nomination procedures.”

A native of Puthukulangara, she joined the Forest Department in 2017 after training at the Arippa Forest Training Institute and the Thrissur Police Academy. She obtained her snake-rescue licence in 2019, beginning with a python rescue at Kallar. By 2021, she was inducted into the RRT, making wildlife rescue a core part of her daily work. Her operations also include rescuing wild animals such as porcupines, deer and civet cats.

Her rescue videos, widely shared online, have inspired many but also reveal the physical strain involved. “Pythons are extremely strong. Their weight and the pressure they exert while escaping demand enormous effort and often leave me with body pain,” she said. In one incident, a python slipped into a stream, forcing her to jump in after it. She also spoke about the less-discussed challenges of the job: captured pythons often release urine and excrement as a defence, and the smell can linger for days despite repeated washing.

Despite such hardships, Roshni follows scientific handling techniques, including the bag-and-pipe method, to ensure the snakes are unharmed. “I never hold snakes by their shoulders as it can injure them. I handle them by the tail even though it takes more effort,” she explained. Her work is backed by strong family support from her husband, Sujith Kumar, an officer in the Co-operative Department, and their two children - Devanarayanan and Surya Narayanan.

Before entering the Forest Department, Roshni worked as an announcer with Akashvani and later as a newsreader at the Doordarshan centre in Thiruvananthapuram. Last year, her social commitment was recognised with an honorary doctorate from Global Human Peace University.

Expressing happiness over Roshni’s achievement, Muhammed Anvar, the Assistant Conservator of Forests and state nodal officer of SARPA, said she has been a source of inspiration for both department officials and volunteer snake rescuers across Kerala. He noted that, compared to many other Indian states, Kerala has a significantly higher number of women involved in snake rescue. “We currently have around 120 active women rescuers, and Roshni is among the most outstanding of them. Women often show a natural aptitude for handling snakes. They tend to approach rescues in a calm, composed and highly effective manner,” he added.

Roshni is one of six women selected for this year’s Sthree Shakthi Award, which carries ₹10,000 along with a citation and plaque. Other awardees include powerlifter-postwoman A P Sainaba, visually impaired judicial officer-designate Tanya Nathan C, coconut-climbing trainer Suni Lee, kayaking champion E Swalih and mountaineer Seena Sara Majnu.