Crocodile Found With Partially-Eaten Body Of 15-Year-Old In Mouth 2 Days After Attacking Boy

A crocodile in India was found swimming in a river with the partially-eaten body of a boy, two days after the child was attacked by the reptile.

According to local media reports, the forest, fire and police departments in the southern state of Karnataka were searching for the 15-year-old boy after he was attacked and dragged away by the crocodile into the Kali River on Sunday. As the search continued Tuesday, people found the crocodile with the teenager's corpse in its mouth, The Times of India reported.

The police had found the crocodile Monday, but were unable to catch it. On Tuesday, rescue teams used boats and nets to capture the crocodile. However, the reptile escaped after dropping the body in the water.

Earlier, search teams had found the victim's footwear near the banks of the river, the News Minute reported. The body of the boy was missing a hand and there were several injuries to his head, the local police said.

While speaking to local media, forest officials said crocodiles cannot eat their prey beneath the water, which is why they come to the banks to consume it. Sometimes, they also hide their prey under the water and eat it after the corpse decomposes.

Locals complained the area was infested with crocodiles, due to which sometimes children even destroyed eggs laid by crocodiles. Locals and tourists have been urged by the forest officials not to fish or go swimming in Kali river.

Last month, a huge crocodile in the state of Uttarakhand was found devouring the body of a man, who had been missing for three days. The victim was identified as Sukhdev Debu. An official in the Surai forest range said it remains unclear if the man was killed by the crocodile, or if the reptile ate the corpse after he died due to some other reasons. The crocodile was first spotted eating the corpse by a man in Raghuliya village, who had gone to the area to drive away some monkeys. “When he reached his farm, he saw a crocodile eating a person near a pond. He immediately informed the other villagers and a crowd gathered at the spot. Village head Gurmej Singh informed police and forest officials about the incident, following which Surai forest range team rushed to the spot and found that the crocodile devouring the dead body,” Kundan Kumar, divisional forest officer of Terai East Forest division said at the time.