Leopard kills 10-year-old girl in Bijnor village; chase by locals fails to save her

BIJNOR: A 10-year-old girl was killed in a leopard attack in Mukarrampur village of Bijnor's Nahtaur area on Sunday after the animal, hiding in nearby bushes, pounced on her, grabbed her by the neck and dragged her towards the forest while she was returning home from the fields with her mother and brother around 10am.Hearing her mother's screams, villagers rushed to the spot with sticks and rods, forcing the leopard to abandon the critically injured child about 200m away before fleeing into nearby sugarcane fields. Aditi was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead. Police later sent the body for a post-mortem.Tehsildar Dhanraj Kumar, circle officer Abhay Kumar Pandey and deputy ranger Hardev Singh reached the spot to assess the situation as villagers demanded that the animal be captured. Pandey said, "The forest department launched a combing operation in the surrounding forest area and installed two cages to trap the leopard.""My family had gone to the fields to sow sugarcane. The attack took place as they were walking back. Aditi was a Class IV student at the local primary school and was the second among four siblings. We have requested officials to take immediate action as we continue to visit the field and leopards pose a threat," said Atul Kumar, the girl's father.Officials noted that the incident came at a time when sugarcane harvesting was nearing completion, with more than 80% of the crop already cleared from the fields. Leopards often take shelter in sugarcane fields, but as the crop is harvested, their hiding spaces shrink, increasing the chances of human-animal conflict.According to the forest department, 35 people died in leopard attacks in the region over the past three years. The area is home to nearly 500 leopards, and residents in around 100 villages are considered vulnerable to such attacks. Officials have advised villagers to move in groups while going to fields and ensure proper lighting around homes.