Rajkot: Four-year-old girl attacked by leopard in Amreli; child under observation

RAJKOT: A four-year-old girl was mauled by a leopard after midnight on Thursday when she was sleeping with her family members in the outskirt of a house in Malsika village of Dhari taluka in Amreli district of Gujarat.
A leopard appeared suddenly and caught the girl from neck. As the girl started screaming, the women sleeping nearby woke up and started hurling stones at the animal, following which it left the girl and went away.
The girl was first rushed to the Dhari Government Hospital and thereafter, she was shifted to Amreli Civil Hospital, where her condition is believed to be stable; she is under observation in ICU.
According to forest department, the victim’s name is Janu Bhikha, whose family had come to the village from Dahod district for some agricultural labour work. They had been hired by the village sarpanch, who had given the family temporary residence near the farm land. The family was sleeping in veranda because of summer.
The girl has received serious injuries. The forest officers often ask the people in this area not to sleep outside the house, because they are prone to attacks by wild animals especially leopard.