3-year-old boy mauled to death by leopard in Gujarat

A three-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district, a forest official said on Monday.

Mohit Ratadiya was sleeping inside a tent in Jambuda village under Mahuva forest range, located around 260 km from here, when a leopard sneaked in and took him away on Sunday night, assistant conservator of forests Vijay Rathod said.

The child belonged to a family of shepherds from Pipaliya village in Rajkot district who had migrated to Bhanvagar sometime back, Rathod said.

"On Sunday night, the leopard entered the tent set up in an open field where the child and his family members were staying. Their sheep and goats panicked at the sight of the leopard and started bleating," he said.

When the child's parents and other adult members went towards their animals to see what had happened, the leopard caught hold of the sleeping boy and fled into the forest, Rathod said.

The child's body, with some parts eaten by the feline, was found in bushes near the village on Monday morning, he said.

Forest and police officials rushed to the spot and later sent the body for post mortem, he added.