A 15-year-old girl has died after being dragged into a river by a crocodile in India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan, police confirmed on Tuesday.
The victim, identified as Shivani Keva, had gone to the banks of the Parvati river in Baran district on Monday afternoon to collect water when the reptile suddenly lunged at her.
She was filling pots with water when the crocodile pulled her inside, said Kishanganj police station officer, Ramesh Chand.
Villagers working in nearby fields witnessed the attack and rushed to her aid. Several took boats into the river in an attempt to scare the animal away and free the girl, but their efforts proved unsuccessful.
Police and rescue teams were alerted soon after and launched a search operation in the river. However, the mission was called off late at night after hours of combing the waters yielded no result.
The following morning, villagers spotted the teenager’s remains floating on the river surface.
Her body was pulled out and sent for post-mortem examination.
The autopsy confirmed that she had died of drowning. According to the police, her body bore no critical injuries apart from deep wounds on her arms, believed to have been inflicted by the crocodile’s grip during the attack.
Police said the body was later handed over to the family for last rites.
Crocodile sightings and sporadic attacks have been reported in parts of Rajasthan, especially in rivers and water bodies in districts like Baran, where villagers depend on these sources for daily needs.
The crocodile species involved in the attack is likely to be a mugger crocodile, also known as a marsh crocodile, found in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Muggers are the world’s third most dangerous crocodile species, aggressive and opportunistic hunters that occasionally attack humans, especially in rural riverine areas.
India has seen 768 crocodile attacks, out of which 317 were fatal in 10 years from 2015-2024, according to Crocattack Org, a global database of crocodile attacks. However, experts say that there is no comprehensive official data on crocodile attacks in India, and incidents may be underreported, particularly in remote areas.
Researchers recently discovered the fossilised remains of a rare crocodile-like species from the Jurassic era in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district. The fossil, identified as a phytosaur, measured up to two metres and is believed to be more than 200 million years old.
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