65-year-old woman fights jackal for 30 minutes, kills animal with sari despite 18 wounds

A 65-year-old farmer from Shivpuri district, fought off a jackal for nearly half an hour before strangling it with her sari. The attack left her with 18 bite wounds, but she survived after being admitted to hospital. The incident occurred late Monday near Barkhadi village under Badarwas police station in Madhya Pradesh.

Surajia, a widow, had gone to her field around 5 pm to cut fodder. As she bent down to lift a bundle of grass near a culvert, a jackal pounced on her, biting her hands and legs. "I thought I was going to die," she said from her hospital bed. Despite being alone and bleeding, she grabbed the animal’s jaws and tried to hold it down as it continued biting her.

After about 20 minutes, weakened and losing blood, she tore a strip from her sari, looped it around the jackal’s neck, and held it tightly until the animal stopped moving. Exhausted, she fainted beside it.


Villagers discovered her hours later, unconscious in the field, and rushed her to Badarwas health centre, from where she was referred to Shivpuri district hospital. "We feared the worst until she opened her eyes well past midnight," said a relative.

Doctors confirmed that Surajia sustained 18 deep wounds but none on her head, neck, or abdomen. She falls under Category 2 of animal-bite cases. "She is stable, on anti-rabies injections, and should recover in about a week," hospital officials said.

Six months ago, her brother-in-law was mauled by a jackal and later died after developing rabies-like symptoms. District Forest Officer Sudhanshu Yadav said the forest department would cover all her medical expenses.