Brave Indian mother fights off tiger with bare hands to save 15-month-old son

A brave mother in the Indian city of Jabalpur has been hailed as a true heroine after she fought off a tiger with her bare hands to save her 15-month-old son.

According to reports in the local media, the incident happened on Tuesday near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, when one of the tigers escaped the reserve and went for the infant when both he and the mother were out on a farm.

The woman identified as Archana Choudhary, reportedly put herself between the wild animal and her child and with the tiger repeatedly striking her with its claws, she stood her ground and fought it with her bare hands.

“With no weapon to hit back nor a way to escape with her child, Archana kept crying out for help, and after nearly two minutes, the tiger ran off when other people arrived. She is truly a heroine,” a local paper wrote in its editorial on Wednesday.

Read also:26 people killed as massive landslide hits North Indian state of Manipur

Another paper reported that the woman literally snatched the toddler from the tiger’s jaws and didn’t let go even after its claws stabbed into her lungs.

The manager of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Lavit Bharti, who confirmed the incident, said:

“We had the information that the tiger is roaming out and people were also coming to watch the tiger. The woman didn’t know about the tiger and went out, where the tiger attacked her.

“Both of them were injured and were admitted to a government hospital. After that, they were shifted to Jabalpur Medical College. Currently, both the mother and child are fine,” he told journalists.

“The child suffered a cut on his head, while the mother was mauled by the tiger and had injuries on different parts of her body. Both are reportedly out of danger,” he added.

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