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Bengal woman punches full-grown leopard forces it to flee
Some people have died in leopard attacks in the region in the recent past. A 17-year-old girl, Geeta Praza, was the last victim at Tulsipara tea garden near Jaldapara National Park on December 17.
A 35-year-old woman from a north Bengal tea garden demonstrated rare bravery by fighting a full-grown leopard with her bare hands for five minutes till the big cat fled.
Anita Nagasiya, a worker at the Rajabhat tea garden in the Kalchini police station area of Bengal’s Alipurduar district was working on Friday morning when the leopard jumped on her from behind.
Leopard attacks have become common in the tea gardens. A 17-year-old girl was killed last December.
Other workers who witnessed Friday’s rare battle said it lasted for no less than five minutes. Nagasiya, they said, punched the animal with her bare hands till it left her and vanished in the bushes.
“Anita was cleaning the drain at the garden’s No 10 section when the leopard pounced on her from behind. She fell in the drain but turned around and started punching the leopard on the face with bare hands. The animal clawed her vigorously but finally gave up,” said Sidhi Sangma, a garden worker.
A bleeding Nagasiya was rushed to the tea garden hospital before she was shifted to Uttar Latabari village hospital. She has sustained serious injuries on her right hand and lower back, said Sangma.
“It was a foggy morning and the animal seemed to appear from nowhere. It was a full-grown leopard,” said Jhoru Oraon, another eyewitness.
“We have set a trap in the plantation for the leopard. The injured woman is out of danger,” said Kalyan Rai, deputy field director (west division) of Buxa Tiger Reserve.
Some people have died in leopard attacks in the region in the recent past. A 17-year-old girl, Geeta Praza, was the last victim at Tulsipara tea garden near Jaldapara National Park on December 17.
Poaching of leopards is also not uncommon in north Bengal. On Thursday, personnel of the state forest department, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of the Centre and jawans of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) seized a leopard skin at Samuktola in the Raidak forest range. A local resident, Fulchand Kujur, 42, was arrested.
Tea garden workers and forest officers said tea bushes provide natural cover to leopards. The big cats also treat the drains in the gardens as a hiding place, especially when females are about to give birth. Dry leaves that accumulate in the drains act as a natural cushion for the animals.
