KOLKATA: Her husband was attacked by a deadly Royal Bengal Tiger in a remote creek in the Sunderbans, but armed with a stick, she fought back, chased away the wild animal and saved her partner’s life.
Namita Mallik, a homemaker in her 40s from the poverty-stricken G-Plot area in West Bengal’s mangrove region, and her husband Dinu had set out for fishing and catching crabs two days ago in a small mechanised boat, which was being sailed by her son in law.
They entered a dense mangrove forest near Kalash Island in the delta region and anchored. It was around 10 am on Friday and none of them realised when the tiger swam to their boat from the forest.
It targeted Dinu sitting on the wooden edge of the boat. It was Namita who noticed the tiger pounced on Dinu. “My husband was gripped between the paws of the tiger, inches from the large head and powerful jaws of the animal,” recalls Namita.
“I started hitting the tiger’s head targeting the eyes with the stick of my fishing wheel. I cannot remember how long I fought with the animal but it was not less than 10 minutes,” she said.
After being hit repeatedly, the big cat gave up and jumped into the river leaving behind Dinu bleeding profusely on the boat.
“But the animal did not disappear into the forest immediately. Instead, it kept roaming and roaring on the bank of the creek. My son-in-law, who was managing the boat’s balance when I was fighting, started the engine and we started sailing towards Patharpratima block hospital,” said the homemaker.
The doctors at the healthcare centre found Dinu’s condition serious and they referred him to Kakdwip sub-divisional hospital. The man’s condition was stated to be stable on Saturday.