40-year-old woman killed by leopard in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh

The woman succumbed to her injuries after she was attacked by a leopard when she had gone to the forest to collect grass.

A 40-year-old woman died after being attacked by a leopard in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district on Monday morning, forest officials said. She became the second woman to be killed by a leopard in the state in a week.

After the attack, locals present at the spot made a noise due to which the leopard went back to the forest area, but angry locals protested till evening with the deceased’s body on the road. (HT PHOTO.)

Navin Pant, sub-divisional officer of Pithoragarh forest division said, "Seema Devi (40) wife of Shankar Ram from Harali Agar village in the district was attacked by a leopard on Monday morning when she had gone to the forests to collect grass. The woman later succumbed to her injuries."

Pant further said that this is the third incident of death due to leopard attack in the area in the past two months. Two more women from the same area have died after being attacked by leopards

"We had installed cages in sensitive villages but the animal could not be trapped. We are again intensifying measures to capture the leopard," said the forest officer.

Attacks by leopards have been increasing in Uttarakhand

On January 20, a 50-year-woman was killed by a leopard in Almora district. On January 9, this leopard had been declared as a ‘man-eater’ by the state forest department. On December 1, a 65-year-old man was killed by a leopard in Chamoli district.

In the first week of November, a 21-year-old woman was killed in a leopard attack in Champawat district. Three women including a teen lost their lives in a week in October in the districts of Nainital, US Nagar and Pithoragarh.