Another human-animal conflict in lockdown, woman killed by leopard

Amroha (Uttar Pradesh) : A woman was attacked and killed by a leopard in Sultanpur area in a series of human-animal conflict amid the lockdown, which is now being slowly eased.

The victim was identified as Sharda Devi, 40, of Phoolpur village. She was working in her field on Monday, Hasanpur police said.

When she did not return home, her family and villagers launched a search and later, found her body in a mango orchard by night, where the leopard had dragged her.

Villagers suspect that Sharda Devi may have been mauled to death by a leopard that had been spotted prowling about in the area, particularly in the mango orchard.

A leopard had attacked three people in the area on June 11 after which the big cat was trapped and tranquilized.

A forest team rushed to the spot and launched a search operation to catch the big cat.

Neeraj Kumar, Hasanpur station house officer (SHO), said, ‘We were informed by villagers that a woman was mauled to death by a leopard. A joint team of police and forest officials rushed to the spot and combed the area. Efforts are on to track the leopard.”