Leopard mauls 8-year-old girl to death in MP’s Barwani district

Barwani (MP), Sep 21 (PTI) A leopard killed an 8-year-old girl in front of her mother in an agricultural field in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district on Sunday, officials said.

The incident occurred in Kirta Phaliya village, under Rajpur sub-division, about 40 km from the district headquarters, they said.

Victim Geeta was in a farm, where her mother and other labourers were working, when a leopard pounded on her. The big cat held the child by the neck and dragged her some distance.

Her mother and others raised an alarm and chased the wild animal, which left the girl and ran into the nearby forest, the officials said.

Geeta was rushed to a community health centre, but doctors declared her dead. According to Block Medical Officer Devendra Romde, the child died as the leopard grabbed her neck from both sides.

Divisional Forest Officer Ashish Bansod said cages and trap cameras are being installed in the area. Patrol teams of the forest department have also been instructed to maintain round-the-clock vigil, he said.

Bansod said they have located the leopard, and efforts are on to rescue it. It recently killed a goat, he added.

This is the second human fatality caused by leopards in the area in the past 35 days.

On August 16, a leopard killed an 8-year-old boy, Subhash, in Indrarpur village. On September 1, a 35-year-old woman named Chandu Bai was injured by a leopard. PTI COR LAL NR