Pipariya (Madhya Pradesh): It turned out to be a battle for survival against extreme odds for a 13-year-old boy from the Kursi Khapa village in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday evening and he emerged victorious.
According to forest department officials, Satyam Thakur, a Class 8 student, was playing near a farm well close to his home when a leopard emerged from the nearby bushes and attacked him. The Kursi Khapa village is under Pipariya Forest Beat.
Lying on a hospital bed, Satyam narrated how he fought the animal off bare-handed, even as it clawed at him.
“I was playing near the well when it suddenly attacked me. I caught hold of its neck. It clawed my stomach and legs, but I screamed loudly and pushed it away,” he told NDTV.
His father, Mahendra Singh Thakur and other family members heard his cried for help and rushed to the spot with sticks around 7 pm.
“When we reached, Satyam was holding the leopard by its neck. We shouted and rushed forward. The leopard then fled into the forest,” his father said.
The boy sustained claw injuries on his abdomen, arms and legs, forest department officials said.
Doctors at the Pipariya Government Hospital, treated him and said that his condition is stable.
A team from the Satpura Tiger Reserve was sent immediately after receiving information about the incident.
The child and his family were transported to the hospital and provided assistance, assistant director Ashish Khopragade said.
The incident was serious forest guard Varbendra Shah said, noting that such encounters can turn fatal.
While an immediate financial assistance of Rs 1,000 was provided to the family, additional support, including all necessary medical assistance, was promised.
While leopard movement is not uncommon in villages bordering forest areas, officials said such close encounters involving children are rare.
