E-Paper
Tiger mauls 9-year-old girl to death in MP’s Shahdol; Body recovered from forest
The tiger dragged the girl into the forest while she was cutting paddy along with her grandmother and sisters in an agricultural field
A nine-year-old girl was mauled to death by a tiger while she was cutting paddy along with her grandmother and sisters in an agricultural field in Jaisinghnagar of Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district on Wednesday afternoon, said forest officials.
The tiger attacked Poonam Gond and dragged her into the forest. Later, villagers and officials recovered her body from the forest.
The grandmother, Terasiya Gond said, “My granddaughter and I were cutting paddy in the field. It was around 2.30pm. I heard the scream of Poonam. I thought she cut her hand with a sickle, but when I turned around to see her, I saw a tiger dragging her to the field. I cried for help and the villagers, who were cutting paddy in their fields, came and tried to save the girl, but the tiger grabbed her and fled into the dense forest.”
Shahdol divisional forest officer, Gaurav Chaudhary said, “In Jaisinghnagar forest range, there are three-four tigers of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve roaming around. This is the first incident of a man-animal conflict. A team of forest officials is trying to locate the tiger to keep a check on its movement.”
The forest officials said a compensation of ₹4 lakh will be given to the family members of the deceased.
