Girl mauled by leopard, dies

RAJKOT: A 10-year-old girl was dragged away and killed by a leopard at a field in Dhari taluka of Amreli district on Monday night. This is the second such incident in last 15 days when a leopard has killed a child in the region.

According to reports, victim Laxmi Devi Pujak and her family had come to the village to meet her aunt. The incident happened in the night when Laxmi was collecting firewood from the field in Dangawadar village. The leopard pounced on her and dragged her to an adjacent field. Hearing her screams, villagers rushed to Laxmi’s help. But by then, the big cat had escaped, leaving behind her body.

The incident has caused panic in the village, especially as this is the second such death recently. Earlier, an eight-year-old tribal girl was dragged away while she was sleeping at night in an open hutment at a farm and killed by a leopard in Dhari range of the Gir sanctuary. Chandrika Bamaniya, a native of Jambua district in Madhya Pradesh, and her family had moved to Gopalgram village in Dhari taluka of Amreli district for labour work in agriculture. The family was sleeping in a makeshift arrangement in an open agriculture field.

Meanwhile, in another incident, the forest department managed to trap a leopard near Ganesh Society near Railway colony in Dhari taluka on Tuesday evening. A cage had been set up after residents had complained of spotting a stray leopard in the area.

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