Fear is writ large on the face of Vemali villagers. On Monday, for the second time in less than 10 days, a villager was attacked by a crocodile at the village ghat where the residents go for bathing and washing clothes.
Chanchal Baria, the 45-year-old woman who was seriously injured in the crocodile attack, has been admitted to the hospital with serious injuries.
Chanchal was washing clothes at the ghat when a seven-feet-long crocodile appeared from the muddy waters and attacked her. Witnesses said the animal tried to drag her into the waters.
Eye-witness Champa who had accompanied Baria explained: ‘‘I saw the animal trying to pull Chanchal into the waters. She had grabbed a boulder with her free hand and was bleeding. By the time I called for help the animal had started gnawing at her.’’
By then, the men who had gathered started throwing stones at the crocodile. ‘‘Reluctantly the animal threw her to one side and disappeared in the murky waters,’’ said Mafat Parmar, whose farming plot is just next to the ghat.
About 10 days back, Jasubhai Rathod (40) was similarly attacked. ‘‘I did not see or hear anything. It came from behind and grabbed my waist,’’ said Rathod, showing two fresh wounds on his back and waist made by the crocodile’s teeth. Though the villagers have registered a police complaint with the taluka police, the latter appear helpless. ‘‘If not in water, where else will the crocodiles go?,’’ asked taluka Sub-Inspector D R Dhamal.
Though used to crocodile presence—there are over 100 in Vishwamitri ravines—the 300-odd families in Vemali, a village on the outskirts of Vadodara, are now terrorised. They say the animals have started turning on the humans only recently.
According to villagers, earlier the crocodiles used to attack goats and cattle, it is only recently that they have started turning up at a ghat used by the villagers and attacking them. While the villagers seem surprised by the sudden aggressive behaviour of the crocodiles, animal activists attribute it to the breeding season. Attempting to explain the violent behaviour of the animals, animal activist Snehal Bhatt said, ‘‘Since March to June is their breeding season, villagers should avoid areas where crocodiles settle and leave them alone.’’
‘‘At least on four occasions we had caught small or medium-sized crocodiles here and handed them over to Vadodara-based animal rights activists,’’ said Vemali sarpanch Gopal Parmar.