16-month-old was following her mother to temple, killed by leopard

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai Metropolitan Region has the highest documented density of leopards in the world at 26 leopards for 100 sq km

MUMBAI: A 16-month-old girl following her mother to the temple was killed by a leopard in Aarey colony early on Monday. The little girl, Itika Akhilesh Lot, was taken to the Seven Hills hospital at Marol but died on the way.

Forest officials said an exercise to trap the leopard will be started after the young girl’s last rites (HT FIle Photo)

“The mother of the victim had gone to a temple at 5.45 am on Monday near their house and Itika followed her. She was attacked by a leopard. Many locals raised an alarm and the leopard ran away,” said Sanjay Gandhi National Park director G Mallikarjun.

Mallikarjun said the girl, a resident of Unit no 15, sustained serious injuries to her neck in the attack which led to her death..

Aarey colony is a green belt located next to Sanjay Gandhi National Park and it is not unusual for leopards to come to Aarey.

According to a study, the national park in Mumbai Metropolitan Region has the highest documented density of leopards in the world at 26 leopards for 100 sq km.

On October 4, a four-year-old boy Himanshu Yadav was also attacked by a leopard when he was going with his father to see a garba event. He, however, survived.

Mallikarjun said that traps will be laid for the leopard after Itika’s last rites.

Forest officer Narayan Mane said the autopsy was conducted at Siddharth Hospital in Goregaon and the body will be handed over to her family soon.