9-Month-Old Baby's Body Found After Leopard Sneaks Into Home, Escapes With Infant

A leopard mauled a nine-month-old infant to death after sneaking into a home in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Sunday.

The incident came to light early Sunday when the parents found the infant missing. The parents immediately informed the forest officials who conducted a search and found the baby’s body a mile from the home.

Police said the animal sneaked into the home when the infant, Swaraj Gurnule, was sleeping with his parents.

"A leopard sneaked into the home, pounced on the child and fled with him into the deep forests outside the village. We recovered only a few mutilated body parts around 2 kms (1.24 miles) away from the family's home,” a police officer told local media.

Confirming the incident, a forest officer said, "The baby boy was sleeping alongside his parents when a leopard possibly sneaked into their house, located close to a forest area, in the wee hours and took him away without anybody noticing it.”

The infant’s body was handed over to the family after an autopsy was conducted. The funeral was conducted Sunday evening which was attended by a number of villagers.

Meanwhile, the forest officer said they “have set up camera traps and cages to capture the animal.”

Speaking to local daily the Indian Express, Chief Conservator of Forest Rama Rao said, “We are clearing the bushes around the village and will be installing solar lamps there to improve visibility since the leopard appears to have sneaked in stealthily from the thickets.”

In a similar incident in April, a nine-month-old baby was mauled to death by an eight-year-old leopard in the Indian state of Gujarat. The toddler was sleeping with his mother outside their house when the animal fled with the child. The infant’s mutilated body was found by the villagers in the forest. Cages along with baits were placed close to where the body was found and the leopard was caught while it tried to get the bait.