Bahraich , A 35-year-old woman was killed after a leopard attacked her in the Sujauli range of the Katarniaghat Wildlife Division here, a forest official said on Friday.
Mamta’s husband, who was in Rajasthan, reached Bahraich on Friday morning. Police are taking the body into custody and sending it for post-mortem examination. Elephant patrols had also been carried out to keep large carnivores away from human settlements. The incident comes amid several reports of leopard attacks in the area in recent days. Surveillance and rescue operations have consequently been intensified in such areas.
The spot is around 2 km from the nearest forest, the officer said, adding that a forest department team has reached the area. Earlier this month, an 86-year-old woman was killed in a leopard attack in Sujauli while a youth was injured in another such incident.
“The incident took place around 6 pm on Thursday when Mamta, wife of Rajendra and a resident of Gaderian Purwa in Sujauli village, was working in a field near her house,” Divisional Forest Officer Apurva Dixit said. “The leopard emerged from the sugarcane field and attacked the woman, resulting in her death,” he said. Dixit said two wildlife awareness campaigns were conducted by the forest department in the Sujauli area a few days before the incident. The movement of leopards into human-inhabited areas has increased following floods, according to the forest department. Residents living near the forest said they were alarmed by the increasing movement of wild animals in populated areas.
