Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A leopard dragged a tribal girl out of her house and killed her in Tajawar Vijay Tola village of Shahdol district late Thursday night. The victim's family was so impoverished that their house did not even have doors, leaving them vulnerable to wild animal attacks.
The deceased, identified as Saraswati Gond, aged around 17-18 years, was sleeping alongside her sister when the leopard entered their house and dragged her away, North Shahdol district forest officer Taruna Verma told Free Press.
Her sister woke up the following morning and found Saraswati missing. A search was launched, and her body was eventually found around 150 metres from the house. The leopard had killed her and eaten part of her abdomen.
Saraswati lived with her mother and three siblings, while her father was away in Gujarat, working as a daily-wage labourer.
The family is extremely poor and does not even have doors in its house. I have written to the Collector requesting that the victim's family be provided a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, North Shahdol District Forest Officer Taruna Verma told Free Press.
The forest department will provide financial assistance of Rs 8 lakh to the victim's family shortly.
