Four-year-old girl mauled to death by leopard in J-K's Udhampur

A four-year-old girl, who ventured out at night around 8.30 pm, was snatched away and mauled to death allegedly by a leopard in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, sources said. During a massive search, the girl's body was found and traps were laid for the big cat in the nearby forest.

Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir): A four-year-old girl was snatched away and mauled to death allegedly by a leopard in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, officials said on Sunday. The victim girl has been identified as Tanu. She was allegedly taken away by the leopard when she ventured out of her home at night in Upper Banjala of the Udhampur district's Panchari area.

The incident took place around 8.30 pm on Saturday, the officials said. On receiving the information, the authorities and local public initiated rescue operations in the vicinity of the village. The girl's half-eaten body was recovered from the nearby forest by search parties in the early hours of Sunday. Following this, the wildlife protection department has laid traps at different places in the forest to capture the leopard, the forest department officials said. After this incident, the local residents became alert and started taking preventive measures.

Last month, a leopard was suspected to have attacked and killed a girl at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh. The forest staff initiated a massive search for the big cat. The leopard eventually walked into a trap later during night hours. It has been caught and shifted to Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park (Tirupati Zoo), according to a forest department official. (with agency inputs)