Hero mum fought off tiger with bare hands after it clamped her boy's head in its jaws

An Indian mother heroically fought off a tiger with her bare hands after it tried to snatch her 15-month-old son in the Umaria district in India.

Archana Choudhary had taken her son Raviraj out to go to the toilet outside of their family home in Rohania village before she encountered the unlikely battle for her and her son's survival.

The Rohania village is close to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in the Umaria district and one of the inhabitants was reported to have escaped, according to the Times of India.

While she waited in the field for her son to relieve himself, the tiger pounced and clamped down on the boy's head before Choudhary leapt to the rescue in aid of her son's safety.

Archana Choudhary had to fight the tiger with her bare hands (@KashifKakvi/Twitter)

As the tiger tried to sink his teeth into Raviraj's neck, his mother fought with her bare hands to prevent the beast from biting her son.

The tussle between the two allegedly took more than a couple of minutes as the tiger continued in its bid to snatch the toddler, but Archana retaliated by kicking and punching the animal as she tried to protect her son.

She was attacked herself as the tiger clawed at her abdomen and chest, so much so that she suffered punctured lungs, but she managed to hold off the beast for long enough that fellow villagers came to help.

Archana suffered punctured lungs while her son sustained minor head injuries (@KashifKakvi/Twitter)

They used sticks to beat the tiger, who admitted defeat returned back into the woods. However, Archana and Raviraj were left wounded with abdomen and head injuries respectively and were immediately taken to Manpur primary health centre.

Archana also suffered deep wounds due to the clawing of the tiger and the pair were sent to a district hospital, reported to be 30 kilometres away in Umaria.

She is believed to have sustained injuries to her back and hands too and both Archana and Raviraj are expected to make a full recovery.

Archana's home in the Rohania village is close to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

According to the Times of India, the family have been referred to Jabalpur for further treatment, which is 130km away from their home.

It is believed that a search operation for the beast is already under way as villagers have been warned to stay indoors at night to prevent potential encounters from happening again.