Maharashtra: Woman saves 5-yr-old daughter from jaws of leopard

A woman rescued her five-year-old daughter from the jaws of a leopard at a forest in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district, an official said on Sunday.

The girl received serious injuries in the incident that took place on June 30, and is slated to undergo a surgery at a hospital in Nagpur on Monday, he said.

Archana Meshram, a resident of Junona village, located about 15 km from the district headquarters, was on way to the village outskirts when the leopard suddenly pounced upon the girl while she was walking behind her mother, Forest Development Corporation Limited’s divisional manager V M Morey said.

The woman initially stepped back out of fear, but soon regained courage and hit the feline with a bamboo stick. The leopard then left the girl and tried to attack the woman, but she kept hitting it with the stick, the official said, adding that the animal later escaped into the forest.

The girl received serious jaw injuries and forest personnel took her to the Chandrapur Civil Hospital, from where she was later shifted to a government dental hospital in Nagpur.

The forest department had given some amount as initial compensation for her medical treatment, the official said. The girl will undergo a surgery at the Nagpur-based hospital on Monday, he added.