Toothless Bengal tiger kills woman in India before dying of illness two days later

Wild Bengal tiger attacked the 34-year-old woman with its paws in Maharashtra, India

Bengal Tiger (Getty)

A toothless tiger has clawed a woman to death in India.

The wild Bengal tiger attacked the 34-year-old woman with its paws in Maharashtra, India after its teeth had fallen out.

The incident was published in the Legal Medicine journal by Indian academics.

According to the journal, the woman was collecting tendu leaves in the Bramhapuri forest near Nagpur when she was attacked.

Witnesses tried to frighten the animal away by throwing rocks, but by the time the tiger had fled a fatal blow had already been sustained by the victim.

An autopsy discovered that the woman had received multiple blows but did not have the usual bite marks associated with a tiger attack.

A day later the tiger that carried out the attack was found dead 2.5 miles away by forest officials, it had died due to illness.

Authorities were able to confirm it was the same animal after matching prints were found near the site of the woman’s death.

Further investigations revealed that the animal had no functional teeth and had been disabled due to illness.

The death of the female victim was classified as accidental.