A heroic Gujarat woman displayed immense courage to rescue her 19-year-old daughter from the jaws of a 13 feet crocodile in Thikariyamubarak village near Padra in Vadodara district last week.
Kanta Vankar was washing clothes on the banks of the Vishwamitri river when the crocodile grabbed her leg and started pulling her into water. Her mother, Divali, who was standing nearby, heard her shrieks. The sudden attack rattled Diwali, who hastily grabbed her daughter's hand to try and pull her free from the clutches of the crocodile.
But the crocodile clasped its powerful jaws round her daughter with its razor-sharp teeth. Diwali said: “I was using all my force to pull her back, but the crocodile was so powerful I could not move her an inch. For a moment I felt the crocodile would take my daughter as it tried to roll into the water.”
But the quick-thinking mother then decided to attack the crocodile with her washing bat. “For several minutes I tried to pull her with my hands, but then I got hold of the wooden bat and started hitting its head forcefully,” she said. “Her leg was trapped between the piercing teeth as she cried in pain, her hands were scratching the river bank to get a grip but it didn't let her go. It took me 10 minutes to finally free her from its jaws.”
After hearing the commotion, villagers rushed to help and drove Kanta to a hospital, where doctors treated her for a leg injury. She has since been discharged. Speaking from the hospital, her mother said: “I thank God for saving my daughter. The injuries are not that serious and doctors say she will be fine soon.”
She said they had been forced to wash clothes in the river because of shortage of water and electricity in the village, but vowed never to return. A wildlife officer said the river is home to ferocious crocodiles and villagers have been warned to steer clear of the river.
“She has miraculously survived. These crocodiles are huge and ferocious,” Ashok Pandya, Vadodara wildlife officer said. “We have been warning villagers not to go near the river,” he said.
Last year, six people were killed in crocodile attacks across Vadodara. There are more than 200 crocodiles in the Vishwamitri River.
