Teenaged Girl, With Headphones On, Attacked And Killed By Leopard

Nainital: In a heartbreaking incident, a teenaged Uttarakahand girl was mauled to death by a leopard in Ramnagar, near Nainital, while she was listening to music on her headphones.

According to forest officials, a Class 8 student from Chunakhan area under Bailparao forest range in Ramnagar was sitting on the bank of a canal that flows parallel to her house on Saturday evening. With headphones on and engrossed in music, the girl was caught unawares when a leopard attacked her and dragged her into the forest area.

The girl’s body was recovered hours later from nearby bushes.

“When we rushed to the spot on getting information from the villagers about the incident, a headphone and a comb were found at the spot. The victim was wearing headphones so she probably couldn’t hear the leopard,” Hindustan Times quoted range officer, Bailparao forest range Santosh Pant as saying.

Leopard attacks have now killed eight people in Kumaon region over a period of one month.

Two cages and seven camera traps were set up around the incident spot to catch the leopard. It did return there, but could not be trapped. On seeing the big cat, villagers raised alarm and that helped it escape, said Pant.