Local hero: Mubarak Batambuze, 50, who slew a 25t, 1,300lb crocodile after it ate his pregnant wife while she was out fetching water at Lake Kyoga

A man whose wife was dragged away by a 1,300lb crocodile took revenge on the beast by slicing it open with a barbed spear in a fight to the death.

Neighbours have hailed Mubarak Batambuze a hero since he slew the 25ft-long monster, which snatched his wife Demeteriya Nabire as she collected water from the lake with friends.

The 50-year-old spent an hour and a half in mortal combat with the beast, and puts his victory down to a special weapon he had specially made for the battle.

'I had so much fear in me but what helped me to succeed was the spear,' he told the BBC World Service.

Mr Batambuze, a fisherman, was left feeling devastated and powerless after the death of his wife four months ago. She was eight months pregnant when she was snatched, leaving nothing behind for him to remember her.

Local media reports say the crocodile was suspected of eating six women and children who had gone to fetch water at the same spot, on the shores of Uganda's Lake Kyoga, but locals had been able to do nothing.

Then last month Mr Batambuze, still aching with grief, heard the beast had returned. He decided the time had come for revenge. But first, he needed a weapon.

'I really wanted my revenge, and asked the blacksmith to make me a spear that could kill the crocodile dead,' he said.

This spear was no normal weapon. The blacksmith designed it with a barb along one side, so that when plunged into the crocodile's belly it would rip the beast's flesh when pulled back out.

Vengeful Mr Batambuze tied a rope to the shaft of the spear then, with a few friends from the village, he went to meet the monster that killed his wife and child.

When the group arrived at the water's edge, they found the immense crocodile still there. But when Mr Batambuze's friends saw the size of it they took fright and begged him not to provoke it.

Remembering his wife, Mr Batambuze would not stop. He told them: 'I'm not bothered if I die killing this beast. I'm going to take it on with this spear, and I will make sure that it dies.'

After instructing his friends to throw stones to distract the crocodile, the widower charged and drove his spear deep into the crocodile's side. Enraged, it tried to bite back, but Mr Batambuze was able to dodge its deadly jaws.

'It turned violent, and then there was so much fear in the place,' he told the BBC. 'But I was so determined, and I wasn't afraid of dying.

'I just wanted it dead, so I put the spear in its side and I pulled the rope. That got the crocodile into trouble.'

But even with its belly ripped open, the monster was not ready to lie down and die. Mr Batambuze and his friends spent an hour and a half battling the beast, attacking and retreating, striking and dodging.

Finally, it was dead and Mr Batambuze and his victorious crew dragged the crocodile back to their village. Neighbours were shocked at its immense size, he said.

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Monstrous: The crocodile was so big Mr Batambuze's friends tried to persuade him not to take it on, but remembering his wife and unborn child he charged it with his spear and fought for 90 minutes until it died

Peter Ogwang, a spokesman for Uganda’s Wildlife Authority (UWA), said human bones and clothes were found in the animal’s stomach. 'We believe this was the same animal that killed the woman,' a UWA official told the German press agency, DPA.

Wycliffe Ibanda, chairman of Kaliro district, which encompasses Mr Batambuze's village of Kibuye, called on the UWA and the government to compensate Mr Batambuze for the loss of his wife.

Speaking to Uganda's New Vision daily paper, he blamed the UWA for not responding to locals' calls for the area's crocodiles to be relocated. But John Opio, a UWA official, said the organisation does not compensate for people killed by crocodiles.

He said the UWA was in the process of relocating the crocodiles in the area to the Muchison Falls National Park or Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, Entebbe.

But those moves, and the accolades from his neighbours, have come too late for Mr Batambuze, who has never even had a chance to mourn at his wife's grave.