Girl, 8, killed in leopard attack in U.P.’s Bijnor

An eight-year-old girl was killed in a leopard attack in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district on Friday morning, police said. The incident, 27th in the district in the last 20 months, took place in Malkapur village of Nahtaur area when the girl Tanya along with her mother and other relatives was in a jungle collect fodder, they added.

As her mother and other relatives shouted for help, farmers working in nearby fields reached the spot and searched for the girl. The critically injured minor was spotted at some distance and rushed to the community health centre where doctors declared her dead, said Nahtaur station house officer (SHO) Dheeraj Singh.

Expressing their anger over increasing leopard attacks, villagers demanded security and asked forest officials to place a cage to catch the animal.

Tehsildar Pawan Kumar, naib rehsildar Jitendra Chahal, forest ranger Govind Ram Gangwar and Nahtaur SHO Dheeraj Solanki reached the CHC and assured the family members of the deceased of financial assistance from the government.

It was 27th human killing by leopards in Bijnor district since February 2023 while over 67 leopards were caged during the said period, said forest officials. Many of these leopards had been released either in the Shivalik range of Saharanpur or sent to Lucknow, Kanpur and Gorakhpur zoos.

Meanwhile, more than 35 leopards were either killed in road accidents, drowned in flood waters or died due to other reasons in past 20 months. Earlier, forest officials had issued an advisory for people who live close to forest that leopards may come closer to human population during rainfall in order to avoid flood in low lying land.