Family members said “Though he has expectedly come round after treatment, tiger panic still seized him as he is still found to be shouting out yelling, ‘tiger’, ‘tiger’ while sleeping at night.”
Masum, son of Abdul Jalil of Uttor Rajapur village in Sharankhola upazila, was admitted to Sharankhola Health Complex with the tiger’s paw marks all over his body, inflicted during a brave scuffle lasting for about an hour inside the world’s largest mangrove forest ‘Sundarbans’.
Masum has been provided with due check-ups and medicines during his family-time- nursing for his further recovery and advised to receive another medical check-up after a week, said Masum Asim Kumar Somaddar, health officer of the hospital.
Masum who has been netting fishes in the watery bodies in the Sundarbans for the last twenty years, said he could not think that he would manage to save his life even after fighting a ferocious tiger of the forest.
“I do not want to set out in the forest’s marshy channels to pursue fishing business anymore, rather, I will employ myself in any alternative profession,” he said with his eyes filled in tears.
According to Masum’s brother Zahidul Haoladar, he along with Masum ventured into the Shela river through the forest with a boat to catch fish around 9am after taking permission from Dhansagor station on January 2.
“We along with some other fellows were catching fishes with fishing hooks sitting on both banks of the river keeping a distance between us,” he said.
All of a sudden, the tiger swooped on Masum taking his right arm into its mouth. Masum then kicked the dangerous beast as if it was no big deal, prompting the tiger to bite his hand.
The adult 10-foot tiger with best of its ability rushed him to the woods. Witnessing the brave show-off there, Zahidul along with four fishermen chased the tiger making it possibly mentally subdued. Adding to the fear, Zahid hit the tiger with a stick, forcing it to flee from the scene and hide in the forest to rather save itself.
Later, the fishermen took him to Sharankhola Health Complex where duty doctor Ripon Nath said Masum’s injury could have been fatal but wasn’t. The victim appeared to be out of danger though.
According to DFO Md Mahamudul Hasan of Sundarbans East Division, the tigers claimed 35 human lives in between 2001 and 2018 in the forest.