Tiger Attacks Skyrocket in Sundarbans as Sea Rises, Workers Return The victims are typically the only wage-earners in the family
Kalpana Raptan describes how often she just sits in despair. A few months ago her partner, Babu Raptan, was killed by a tiger who attacked him out of nowhere.
He had gone fishing in a boat with several other men. “He died saving another man, he never thought about his own life or of his family,” she says, sobbing.
“What will I do now? He was the sole earner in the family.”
Kalpana Raptan is now a bagh bidhoba or tiger widow. Many women are tiger widows here, especially in the islands. They report that men frequently molest them, and that traffickers find it easier to prey on young widows.