Villagers in Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar burn forest after leopard kills 7-year-old boy

Angry villagers in Harinagari area of Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar district set a forest on fire Monday evening after a leopard killed seven-year-old boy.

The boy’s half-eaten body was found in the nearby forest area on Tuesday morning.

A crowd of over a thousand gathered in the village due to which the foresters could not go into the affected area during the night, forest officials said. Harinagari is around 25 kms from the district headquarters.

RK Singh, divisional forest officer (DFO) Bageshwar said the Deepak, son of Diwan Ram had gone to urinate outside the house on Monday evening when the leopard struck and dragged him towards the forest area. He said the boy’s mother was cooking at that time when she heard the cries of her son.

“The angry villagers later set the forest on fire and we couldn’t go into the affected area. A crowd of over a thousand people gathered in the village. They demanded immediate compensation for the family of the victim and shooting of the leopard by the forest officials,” he said.

The extent of the damage caused by the fire can be ascertained only after forest officials reach the area and carry out a survey.

Singh said the half-eaten body of the child was found nearly 250 metres from his house in the forest area. He said the family of the victim would be provided with a compensation of Rs 3 lakh after following the due procedure in such cases.

This is not the first such incident in the area this year. In March, the same leopard is suspected to have killed a four-year-old child in the area, said Singh.

The second such incident in less than three months fuelled tempers on Monday that led the villagers to set the forest on fire.

The wildlife department is holding talks with the chief wildlife warden on whether to declare leopard a man-eater and eliminate it.