Leopard claims another life in Uttarakhand

The girl, a resident of Rauniya village of the district, was returning home last evening from a nearby shop when the leopard hiding behind the bushes assaulted her and took her into the jungles, SDM Pratapnagar Devanand Sharma said.

Villagers who saw the leopard assaulting the girl raised an alarm, but it ran undeterred into the wild along with the child whose half-eaten body was recovered later, Sharma said.

Incidents of human beings falling prey to the big cats have been on the rise in Uttarakhand of late with this one being the third such incident in a month.

On October 22, 38-year old Sheela Bisht had gone to the fields to cut grass at Silkhaura village of the state's Almora district when a leopard pounced on her, killing her on the spot.

A 56-year-old woman was mauled to death by a leopard at Malli Chauneli village of Almora on October 16.