Woman Fights Off Leopard Who Attacked Her 18-Month-Old Sleeping Baby

A woman fought off a leopard to save her 18-month-old baby after the animal attacked the toddler in the Indian state of Maharashtra on Friday.

Deepali and her son were sleeping outside their hut early Friday when the woman heard the leopard growl. However, before she could get up, the animal caught hold of the baby’s head. The woman then started hitting the leopard with her hand until the animal let go of the baby. The leopard then attacked Deepali and caught hold of her hand, but fled after she started screaming.

The villagers rushed to the hut after hearing the screams. They then alerted the forest officials who reached the scene and rushed the baby to a nearby hospital. The boy was then taken to a public hospital Saturday morning and discharged Monday.

“The boy neck and the areas near his left eye and ear had marks of the leopard’s teeth,” a forest officer told local daily the Times of India.

Officials said most of the villagers were farmers staying in makeshift huts. Despite warnings, the villagers continue to sleep outside the huts. They now want the officials to catch the leopard.

“The forest officials have been urging the villagers not to sleep in the open and also to keep their domesticated animals indoors to avert any leopard attacks,” the forest officer said.

The incident comes less than a month after a leopard attacked and killed a five-year-old girl in the same village. The girl had come down to the village to visit her grandmother and had accompanied her to the field when the leopard, hiding nearby, attacked her. The animal then caught hold of the girl’s neck and started dragging her away when villagers in nearby fields reached the scene and pelted stones at the animal. The leopard let go of the child and fled. The child was rushed to a local hospital where she was declared dead.