16-17 and 1224 casualties/deaths due to elephant attacks during the same period (Government of India, 2017).  The trauma and panic it can cause on the survivors vary from region to region. The Post Traumatic Eco-Stress Disorders (PTESD) of the ‘tiger widows’ of Sunderbans, West Bengal (Chowdhury et al 2013) and the impact of tiger attacks on the people are documented both from qualitative and quantitative perspectives. The prominent among the reactions is the stigma with which the women continue to live and are marginalized due to the cultural belief system the community holds towards them (Chowdhury et al 2014). They are being perceived as ‘one who eats her husband’ and they are seen as ‘inauspicious and evil’ and as a result are isolated, branding them as people with ‘divine curse’ from the community which puts them into economic hardships in addition to the psychological trauma.

The probable consequences the tiger attack can have on their children and grandchildren make the women more vulnerable. The male children, having to discontinue their schooling, often take up a vocation at a young age, mostly that of their fathers and on the other hand the girl children suffer being outcasted, leading to low prospect of marriage and sexual exploitation (Chowdhury et al 2014). In Karnataka, 5 deaths were reported due to tiger attacks in the year 2013-2014 and it is not known how it has impacted the survivors (Government of India, 2017).

Unfinished business means the need for oneself to ‘complete the incomplete’ and there are several of them which an individual needs to work with. From a gestalt therapy perspective, the manifestation of PTSD may be viewed as ‘unfinished businesses’ related to the traumatic event that one was exposed to (Cohen, 2003).  There need not be a temp