14-year-old boy killed by big cat in UP’s Kheri forest

A big cat, suspected to be a leopard, killed a 14-yar-old boy in Sahabdin Purwa village of Kheri forest division in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The deceased, Chandan, had gone to fetch fodder from the fields when the animal, hiding in the bushes, attacked him, said villagers.

A big cat, suspected to be a leopard, killed a 14-yar-old boy in Sahabdin Purwa village of Kheri forest division in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The deceased, Chandan, had gone to fetch fodder from the fields when the animal, hiding in the bushes, attacked him, said villagers.

A leopard captured in forest department cameras in Dhaurahra range on September 19 . (Sourced)

Hearing his screams, villagers in the adjacent fields rushed to the spot, after which the animal fled. Some villagers said the animal was a tiger while others identified it as a leopard.

The village is located across Ghaghra river, under Isanagar police limits of Dhaurahra tehsil.

Since the movement of a leopard was reported in this area earlier also, the spotted cat is now suspected to have attacked the boy.

On September 19, a leopard was captured on cameras installed up by the forest authorities in Chakdaha village area where a big cat had killed a 13-year boy, Brijesh on September 14.

Since then, the forest authorities had set up cages to trap the big cat. But it has so far evaded the trap.

However, indicating possibilities of its being a leopard, Patel said the forest department field staff had been sent to the spot to collect pugmarks and match them with those of the leopard sighted earlier in the area.

A 12-year-old girl in the same village had a miraculous escape after she was attacked by a leopard on Saturday.

According to villagers, Reena was carrying food for her father in the fields, when a leopard pounced on her.

The girl raised an alarm, after which villagers rushed to her rescue and chased the leopard away.