Residents Suspected This Crocodile Swallowed Boy Who Was Swimming In The River, Arrested And Wanted To Split His Stomach

Illustra buaya. (Unsplash/Rajeevan/MSN)

JAKARTA - A large crocodile was caught by residents and was about to be slit open, because it was suspected that it had swallowed a small child who had disappeared while swimming in the river.

Villagers in Madhya Pradesh, India caught a crocodile after suspecting it had swallowed a 10-year-old boy on Monday.

The missing boy, identified as Antar Singh from Raghunathpur Village, was bathing in the Chambal River in the morning, when the alleged incident took place.

Several villagers claimed to have seen the boy being dragged into the river and swallowed by the reptile. They immediately called the boy's family and relatives and managed to catch the crocodile using sticks, ropes and nets, reports Sputnik News July 13.

Hoping the boy was still alive, the people decided to slit open the crocodile's stomach, in order to save the boy.

However, they were stopped by the local police and forestry officers, who learned of the incident and rushed to the scene, thereby preventing the villagers from killing the reptile.

In a video, hundreds of villagers can be seen congregating around the captured crocodile, which is tied with rope, as they stick bamboo between its jaws to prevent it from 'chewing the child'.

However, officials believe the child may have drowned in the river. They have engaged the National Disaster Response Search (SDRF) team to search for missing children.

In light of attacks on people, villagers have asked local forest officials to release the 'man-eating' crocodiles that inhabit the Chambal River in Madhya Pradesh elsewhere.

#MadhyaPradesh: 10-year-old boy swallowed by crocodile while bathing in Chambal river pic.twitter.com/iSzcJtWdWw

— Neha Singh (@NehaSingh1912) July 12, 2022