Being devoured by a large apex predator is nothing to take lightly.  But this story is…well…too delicious (sorry) to pass up.

Pilgrims visiting the Muslim Khan Jahan Ali shrine in Bangladesh normally toss sacrificial chickens and goats to the crocs that inhabit a local pond, in hopes of receiving some special blessing, whatever that may be.  A bit odd, in a paleo-ritualistic kind of way, but at least most of the local peasantry keep to a (relatively) safe distance.  Good, clean fun for the whole family, we say.  A few of the bolder visitors will take a quick dip in the croc-infested pond, but are usually cautious enough to steer clear of the giant carnivores.

We’re not sure why they do this, and in a corner of the globe where news headlines often tell of people being trampled by elephants and villagers being dragged from their homes in the night to be devoured by tigers, we think this sort of encounter with dangerous wildlife is tempting fate just a bit too much.  Seems to us that visiting Mecca would be a safer and more rewarding pilgrimmage.  But we digress…

Enter our hapless friend, 25-year-old Rubel Sheikh.  Apparently, a mere close encounter with the beast didn’t suit this devotee.  No, our tragic disciple of reptilian salvation chose instead to approach one of the crocs straight-on, such that he may have a more intimate (and, ostensibly, more meaningful) religious experience with the critter.  To get his “good news” from the…err…reptile’s mouth, if you will.  Sort of like those fundietards who play with poisonous snakes in order to commune with god.

But, crocs being crocs, such an experience wasn’t meant to be.  Our soon-to-be-Darwin-Award nominee unwittingly chose the hungriest one from which to receive his blessing.  The results were spectacular.  They really should feed those things before letting the local hoi polloi wander amongst them.

Well, they didn’t find much of poor Rubel Sheikh, though many of his fellow seekers made a heroic, if not successful, effort to recover him from those murky and deadly waters.

Afterwards, some of the locals remarked that it was unusual for one of the crocodiles to attack, that they are usually very “friendly.”  Ahem.  We just hope the locals don’t do anything rash against the poor crocodile, like showing up on his doorstep at night, carrying torches.  It wasn’t his fault, afterall.  He was only doing what came naturally to him, and was probably wondering why no one bothered to offer him a dessert menu or a toothpick.