A mum heroically fought off a tiger after it attacked her 15-month-old son and clamped its jaws around his head. Archana Choudhary was taking her son Raviraj to the toilet outside their family home in Rohania village in the Umaria district of India when the horror incident took place.
The village is located nearby the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, with one of the big cats reported to have escaped, according to the Times of India. As Archana waited in the field for her son, the tiger pounced and locked its jaws around the toddler's head, according to the Mirror.
As the creature tried to bite at Raviraj's neck, the parent leapt into action and fought with her bare against the beast. Allegedly, the fight carried on for several minutes as the tiger made several attempts to snatch the youngster, but the determined mum retaliated by kicking and punching the animal in a desperate bid to save her son.
She was attacked herself as the tiger clawed at her abdomen and chest, so much so that she suffered punctured lungs, but she managed to hold off the beast for long enough that fellow villagers came to help. They used sticks to beat the tiger, who admitted defeat returned back into the woods.
However, Archana and Raviraj were left wounded with abdomen and head injuries respectively and were immediately taken to Manpur primary health centre. Archana also suffered deep wounds due to the clawing of the tiger and the pair were sent to a district hospital, reported to be 30 kilometres away in Umaria.
She is believed to have sustained injuries to her back and hands too and both Archana and Raviraj are expected to make a full recovery. According to the Times of India, the family have been referred to Jabalpur for further treatment, which is 130km away from their home.
It is believed that a search operation for the beast is already under way as villagers have been warned to stay indoors at night to prevent potential encounters from happening again.
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