Badagalapura (Mysuru): The morning began like any other for the farmers of Badagalapura village. Dew still clung to the sugarcane, and the air was filled with the hum of conversation — until the jungle roared back.

Within seconds, peace turned to panic. A tiger burst out of the bushes, its powerful stride tearing through the field, sending men scrambling up trees in sheer terror.

Someone’s phone camera kept rolling — capturing every horrifying moment now burning through social media timelines.

The video shows chaos in motion — shouts, cries, and the unmistakable sight of a 34-year-old farmer, Mahadev, caught before he could climb.

The tiger lunges, dragging him down. Villagers yell helplessly from the branches above. “It bit his face… his head,” said an eyewitness, voice trembling. “We thought he was gone.”

Mahadev, somehow, survived. He was pulled from the field, bloodied but breathing — his face torn, his skull injured. He now lies in critical condition at a local hospital.

For weeks, villagers here have lived with fear as a silent companion. Tiger sightings have become a grim routine — a blur of stripes near the fields at dusk, paw prints in the mud by morning. Repeated pleas to the Forest Department went unanswered until this attack forced urgent action.

Now, the forests around Saragur are crawling with trackers, kumki elephants, and drones as officials race to capture the elusive big cat. But for the people of Badagalapura, fear lingers like a shadow.

“We don’t sleep at night anymore,” said one villager, clutching a machete. “Every rustle in the dark feels like death waiting.”