Leopard mauls woman to death in Udaipur district

UDAIPUR: A leopard killed a 36-year-old woman at Kewde-ki-Naal area under Savina police station limits, around 20km from here, on Thursday evening.
The woman had gone to the forest to cut grass around 5pm when the beast mauled and dragged her several metres into the dense bushes. The dead body was recovered by local forest staff one-and-a-half hours later. There were wounds on her neck and other parts of the body. The victim has been identified as Bhanvari Bai, wife of Ramesh Meena, a resident of Eklingpura of Ouda panchayat in Kewda forest area.
Villagers gathered in large numbers and blocked the Udaipur-Salumber-Banswara road for some time.
They have now raised fears that the leopard may have turned into a man-eater. Officials of the forest department, police teams from Savina and Zawar Mines stations and the tehsildar rushed to the spot and pacified the villagers. They assured them of trapping the wild cat soon. People complained that the leopard had been sighted earlier too from the area. However, forest officials did not take them seriously.
Confirming the incident, deputy conservator of forests Ajay Chittora said, “Our team is at the spot. We will put a cage and take necessary steps to catch the leopard. After the post-mortem report, more facts will be known." According to sources, it is common for local residents to take goats to the forest area for grazing or to cut grass or wood.