Leopard Attacks 65-Year Old Woman, Kills Her

A leopard strayed into a village, killed a woman and injured seven others in Pakur district, Jharkhand, India. The village where the incident took place was situated close to a forest range.

A leopard ventured out from the Maheshpur forest range to Nashipur village which was situated nearby on Tuesday. It attacked and killed a woman, Sonamuni Tudu, 65, who had gone out to pluck mushrooms. Bite marks were found on her shoulder and neck.

"Sonamuni Tudu died after she was attacked by the animal and others were injured," a senior police officer said.

The villagers tried to capture the leopard with sticks and other weapons that came handy, however the leopard ended up injuring seven of them.

Forest Department deployed a team of personnel to engage and drive the leopard back into the forest. However the task became daunting as they did not have experts nor tranquilizers to subdue to leopard.

Forest Ranger Anil Kumar Singh who was camping in the village said, the villagers were making it dificult for the forest officials to drive the leopard away.

“The village crowd is posing trouble in driving away the animal. If need arises, we will impose section 144 to keep the situation under control.” Singh told Hindustan Times. According to him, the scattered houses and the farm fields in between also aided the leopard in avoiding being caught.

The family of the deceased were paid a compensation of Rs 50,000, while the injured were Rs 10,000 for their treatment.

Last week an 80-year old woman was attacked by a leopard during the wee hours of morning in Amreli, Gujarat. The leopard attacked her from behind as she went out to attend nature’s call.

She sustained injuries, but was rushed to the hospital.

Leopard attacks are common in villages that are situated close to forest areas. In one such village in Madhya Pradesh, where leopards frequently raid the farms for pets and cattle, a farmer made a spiky collar for his dog to keep them away.