A crab catcher was mauled to death by a tiger in the Sunderbans, in spite of the desperate effort of his wife to save him, a forest official said on Thursday.
Durgapada Mondal and his wife Sandhya were catching crabs near Chilmari canal when a tiger pounced on the man and tried to drag him inside the forest.
Sandhya jumped in front the big cat and hit the animal with an oar of their boat, the official said adding that the tiger fled leaving him behind.
With the help of their companion, Sandhya lifted Mondal on the boat and started for home in Gosaba area of South 24 Parganas district. However, Mondal died of excessive bleeding before reaching there.
The official said the incident took place on Tuesday and the couple did not have permission to catch crabs.