Woman mauled and drowned to death by crocodile

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 2. In a ghastly incident, a 57-year- old woman was drowned after being caught by a crocodile which dragged her around the Neyyar dam reservoir for over four-and-a- half hours. The incident occurred at Pantha, near Kanchimoodu in the Neyyar police station limits in the district today.

The gruesome incident occurred at around 9 a.m. when the hapless victim, Mrs. Rajamma, wife of Mr. Kamalasana Panicker and a resident of Thadarikathu Veedu, was washing clothes at Thekkal, 100 metres away from her house on the bank of the reservoir.

According to eye-witness accounts, the crocodile caught Mrs. Rajamma by her shoulder, dragged her along and plunged into the reservoir, all in the flash of a second. Although locals raised an alarm, no one could venture into the reservoir as it was swarming with crocodiles released by the Forest Department in the early eighties.

The Fire Force, Police and forest authorities arrived at the spot around 11 a.m. The crocodile moved around the sprawling reservoir holding the woman's body in its jaws and often coming above the water surface. The locals and the huge crowd that gathered watched helplessly as it swam around the reservoir.

It was only around 11-30 a.m. that boats and rifles arrived at the spot. Two teams lead by the Divisional Forest Officer, Mr. T. Pradeep Kumar, and the CI of the Kattakada Police, Mr. Sivakumaran Nair, launched the rescue operation in two boats.

Around 1 p.m, the team located the crocodile near Kottayampuram, the widest area of the reservoir. The locals had erected a net at Kottayampuram, located between two islands, to prevent the crocodile from moving forwards. As the crocodile was trying to jump over the net, by around 1-30 p.m, the SI of the Neyyar Dam Police Station, Mr. Prasanth, who was in the rescue boat, fired four shots from the service rifle. The crocodile released the woman after the fourth shot. Two locals travelling in the boat recovered the victim's body.

Forest officials said the crocodile was one of the five violent ones in the area and it weighed over 200 kgs. The body was later brought to the spot, where the woman was attacked.

The locals refused to release the body for post mortem and demanded that a solution should be found to end the attacks by the crocodiles. Later, the locals allowed the authorities to take the body on the condition that a permanent solution to the crocodile menace would be found before the cremation of the body.

A post mortem was performed at the Medical College Hospital and the body was handed over to relatives. The Neyyar Dam Police have registered a case. The Revenue Divisional Officer, Ms. Tinku Biswal, visited the locality in the evening and assured the locals of all help to prevent the attacks by the crocodiles.

Although the crocodiles released into the reservoir had attacked the locals residing near the bank, this is the first time that a person has lost her life in an attack.

Meanwhile, the local MLA, Mr. Thampanoor Ravi, has demanded compensation for the family of the deceased. He has urged the Forest Minister, Mr. C. K. Nanu, and the Irrigation Minister, Mr. V.P. Ramakrishna Pillai, to convene an urgent meeting to take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

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Section  : Southern States
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