Hero at nine, poverty gets better of ‘tiger boy’ at 54

At the age of nine, he fought a tiger in a Swedish film. Forty-five years later, Chandru, a Bastar Maria tribal from Chhattisgarh, is fighti...

At the age of nine, he fought a tiger in a Swedish film. Forty-five years later, Chandru, a Bastar Maria tribal from Chhattisgarh, is fighting disease and penury.

Fifty four-year-old Chandru, better known as ‘‘the tiger boy’’ after he played the lead role in the Swedish film Chandru — Boy and the Tiger, is suffering from tuberculosis. Neighbours say his condition is deteriorating and they have no money to take him to the hospital. He is fighting a losing battle, says fellow tribals.

A native of Gadwegal, 3 km from Naxalite hot belt Narainpur, Chandru is confined to bed for the past one year. His son Jairam Mandavi had to drop-out from school. Mandavi has time and again appealed to the government for help. Moved by the family’s pathetic condition, a local journalist, Hemant Panigrahi had put-up an exhibition of Chandru’s photographs from the Swedish film in Jagdalpur. The district administration also contributed Rs 1,000 towards his treatment but the amount was too meagre.

When contacted over the phone, District Collector Dinesh Srivastava said he would provide necessary help for his treatment soon.

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