A 14-year-old girl from a village in Kasara sustained injuries after being attacked by a leopard which had strayed near her house on Friday night. This is the second such attack in less than a month in the area.
It was around 7.30 pm that the girl, Rajani Dhapte, was confronted by the spotted beast in a field adjacent to her house in Pethyachapada village in Thane district. Just as the petrified teenager started hollering, the leopard pounced on her, mauling her face and injuring her hand.
On hearing the loud screams, the girl’s aunt, Meera Bhagat, and a few villagers rushed towards the house. As the group of people created a din, the leopard quickly darted out, and disappeared in the dark.
The injured girl, who was taken to the primary health centre, is in a stable condition.
On October 11, a four-year-old girl from Kamtipada village in Kasara died after being attacked by a leopard. The girl, who was asleep beside her parents in their hut, was dragged out of the house by the animal.
These two recent incidents of attacks by big cats has angered people living in villages near Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary.
On Saturday, a few villagers ransacked the state forest department office in Kasara. The villagers claimed that such attacks could have been prevented had there been proper patrolling by forest officials. Fearing that the leopard could strike again, villagers armed with sticks kept vigil in the locality.
Assistant conservator of forests S P Chavan said that eight forest teams patrol the area continuously. “We have set up six cages as traps, yet leopards managed to enter villages,”said Chavan, adding they will seek expert help to resolve such cases of man-animal conflict.
A senior forest official said leopards often stray into villagers as poultry animals are let loose by villagers.