Woman seriously injured in leopard attack in Uttar Pradesh

Bahraich (UP), Jun 9 (PTI) A woman was seriously injured when a leopard attacked her near Katarnia Ghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, officials said on Sunday.

According to villagers, Madhuri (20), a resident of Sirsianpurva village in the Sadar Beat area of the Katarnia Ghat Forest Range, was sleeping on a cot outside her house when at around 1:30 am, a leopard came out from the forest and attacked her. The leopard grabbed her and started dragging her towards the forest, they said.

The villagers gathered upon hearing Madhuri's screams and managed to free her from the leopard's clutches by hitting it with sticks. However, by then, she was badly injured.

The woman was initially taken to a local primary health centre but due to a deep injury on her head, she was later transferred to the district hospital where she is undergoing treatment, the villagers said. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Katarnia Ghat B Shiv Shankar confirmed the incident, stating that the woman's condition worsened at the Sujauli PHC, leading to her admission to the district hospital.

Forest personnel in the area have been alerted. An awareness campaign has also been launched in the villages around the incident site, advising villagers not to go out late at night and not to sleep outside their houses, the DFO said. PTI COR NAV BHJ BHJ