Woman dragged away, killed by crocodile in Sundarbans

Chhoto Mollahkhali: A 40-year-old woman was dragged away and partly devoured by a crocodile at Chhoto Mollahkhali in the Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas, police said on Saturday.

The deceased, identified as Rambha Mondol, and her husband Shyamapada were collecting tiger prawn seedlings at the ferry ghat on a tributary of Gosaba river yesterday when the reptile dragged her away. Alerted by her shouts for help, Shyamapada and other local fishermen set out in four boats to save the woman. The boats surrounded the crocodile but failed to rescue the screaming woman. The rescue efforts had to be called off when the reptile went underwater with the woman. Her body was found hours later on Kochkhal `char` of the river with her legs and right hand missing. The body was sent for post mortem, police said. The incident is the first of its kind in Chhoto Mollahkhali, a coastal area, where the presence of crocodile has not been reported before.