Photo: BSS

KHULNA, March 29, 2026 (BSS) - Munni Khan Moon, the widow of Subrata Mondal who was killed in a crocodile attack in the Sundarbans on September 30 last year, has given birth to a baby boy. 

The 25-year-old mother is currently staying at her Grandmother Aparna Patowary’s house with the newborn.

In a voice choked with emotion, Moon said the child came into her life after seven years of waiting, but the person who should have first heard the news of becoming a father is no longer alive. 

“My son could not even see his father’s face,” she lamented.

Moon expressed her determination that her child should not follow the risky forest-based profession of his forefathers.

“The forest is always dangerous. I want my son to study and build a different future,” she said.

Subrata Mondal, 32, son of Kumud Mondal from Purba Dhangmari area of Dacope upazila in Khulna, went to the Sundarbans on the morning of September 30, the day of Bijoya Dashami during the Durga Puja festival, to catch crabs despite financial hardship and his wife’s illness during pregnancy.

While returning home with his companions, he was attacked by a crocodile while crossing the Karamjal canal under the Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans East Forest Division. 

His body was recovered about seven hours later from the Gajalmari area of the canal.

At the time of the incident, Moon was around four months pregnant. On March 20, the day before Eid-ul-Fitr, she went into labor and was first taken to Mongla and later to Khulna on doctors’ advice, where she delivered a baby boy at night. She returned to her grandmother’s house with the child on March 23. Both mother and newborn are now in good health.

Moon said her mother-in-law, Bamoni Mondal, has already visited to see the child. 

She added that their marriage was based on love, but initially faced resistance due to differences in religious backgrounds. Over time, relations improved, but tragedy struck just as their family life began to stabilize.

To keep her husband’s memory alive, Moon has named their son Shubhojit, inspired by his father’s name.

Moon also shared her own difficult upbringing. Her father left when she was only eight months old and later passed away. Her mother remarried, and Moon grew up under the care of her grandmother, who now runs a small tea stall to support the family.

She now faces the dual challenge of repaying nearly Tk 1 lakh in debt left by her husband and securing a better future for her son.

According to RezauI Karim Chowdhury, Divisional Forest Officer of the Sundarbans East Division, Subrata had entered the forest with valid permission for crab collection. 

His family has received a government assistance cheque for Tk 3 lakh. However, families of those entering the forest without permits will not be eligible for such support.

Forest-dependent communities in Khulna, Bagerhat, and Satkhira have traditionally relied on the Sundarbans for livelihoods such as fishing, crab collection, honey gathering, and golpata harvesting.

However, climate change, declining fish stocks, reduced honey yields, and increasing risks, including wildlife attacks and extortion are making survival increasingly difficult, prompting some to change professions or migrate to urban areas.