Villagers tie up 13-foot crocodile believing it had swallowed a boy whole
Villagers in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh caught and tied up a 13-foot crocodile, suspecting that it had swallowed a seven-year-old child whole.
People in Sheopur city claimed that the child Antar Singh, who was bathing in the Chambal river with his friends on Monday, was still alive inside the crocodile’s stomach, according to reports. However, the next morning Singh’s body was found floating in the river.
The boy, a resident of Raghunathpur village located about 180km from Gwalior city, had gone swimming in the river when he disappeared. When his parents began searching for him, some villagers claimed they had seen a crocodile swallow the boy alive.
Dozens of villagers swam into the river and used nets to capture the reptile.
Angry villagers Raghunathpur captured a crocodile for over seven hours so that they could recover the body of a 7 year-old boy who they thought the reptile had swallowed! pic.twitter.com/DKxGylYOzP
— Anurag Dwary (@Anurag_Dwary) July 13, 2022
They then proceeded to drag the reptile out of the water, tied it and used a stick to prop open its jaws “to prevent it from chewing”.
Villagers believed that the crocodile’s “bloated belly” was proof that the reptile has swallowed the young child, reported the Times of India. The boy’s family even called out his name in the hope that he will respond from inside the crocodile’s belly, the newspaper said.
Villagers wanted to slit open the belly of the reptile. Forest officials were alerted who rushed in and attempted to stop the villagers. A rescue team was also sent out by forest officials to look for the child.
The officials then managed to convince the villagers to set the crocodile free and released it away from human habitation.
“This crocodile was turning into a man-eater. It had made similar attacks earlier also. It has killed and devoured several cows. This time we have released it far away from human settlements,” Raghunathpur police official Shyamveer Singh Tomar was quoted as saying by the paper.
According to forest officials, there are hundreds of crocodiles in the Chambal river. Attacks on human populations have also become frequent recently.
Officers added that Singh’s body was found with deep wounds that indicated an attack by crocodiles.
