LUCKNOW: An 86-year-old woman was killed in a leopard attack in Bahraich’s Sujauli area early Friday morning after the animal entered her makeshift house, dragged her away by the neck and disappeared into nearby bushes. Her partially eaten body was found nearly 50 metres from her home about two hours later.The victim, identified as Phoolawati, was sleeping alone on a cot inside her thatched house in Sitarampurwa village near a canal when the leopard attacked at around 3 am, according to villagers.Residents said they were alerted by the woman’s screams. When they rushed out with torches, they reportedly saw the leopard dragging Phoolawati towards the bushes. The villagers tried to chase the animal away, but it disappeared into the darkness.When villagers went looking for the elderly woman again around 5 am, they found her body lying near bushes beside a turmeric field, around 50 metres from her house.According to the villagers, the leopard had eaten the woman’s head and entire left leg, while part of her right leg had also been eaten.Police and forest officials reached the spot after being informed. Officers found what they identified as leopard pugmarks near the site, strengthening the suspicion that the woman was killed in a leopard attack.A team from the Katarniaghat forest range, along with Sujauli police station in-charge Ram Govind Verma, sub-inspector Chandan Yadav and other personnel, reached the village. With the help of villagers, police recovered the body from the field and sent it for post-mortem examination.Lived alone in a thatched housePhoolawati had been living alone in a makeshift house near the canal in Sitarampurwa. Her husband, Prabhu, had died several years ago.She had four daughters — Geeta, Krishnavati, Ramavati and Sunita — and a son, Sohan. All four daughters are married and live with their respective families, while her son works in Rajasthan.Neighbours said the woman’s house did not have a proper door and was secured only with a piece of cloth. She had been living there alone for a considerable period.Family says permanent house could have saved herPhoolawati’s granddaughter Sudama Devi said the family’s earlier house had been washed away in erosion caused by the Ghaghra river last year. Following the loss of the house, Phoolawati began living along the embankment of the Saryu canal.Sudama said the family could not construct a permanent house there because of restrictions imposed by the irrigation department, forcing the elderly woman to live in a thatched structure.She said the family believed Phoolawati might have survived if she had been living in a proper, secure house.Villagers claim leopard has been active for a weekThe attack has triggered panic among residents of Sitarampurwa, Chafariya and Nahar Bazar areas.Villagers claimed that a leopard has been repeatedly spotted in the area for about a week and that Friday’s attack was the third leopard-related incident reported in the area within a week.They said a leopard had killed a goat at the same location on Wednesday. Villagers also alleged that no forest official had reached the spot after the goat was attacked.Residents have urged the forest department to intensify surveillance, capture the leopard at the earliest and provide compensation to the victim’s family.Traps and camera traps deployedFollowing the fatal attack, forest officials have intensified efforts to track the animal. Trap cameras have been installed and nets have been laid at multiple locations to monitor the leopard’s movement and facilitate its capture.Forest Ranger Neeraj Srivastava visited the spot and provided the victim’s family an immediate assistance of ₹10,000. He assured the family that all possible assistance would be extended.The incident has once again raised concerns among villagers living close to forested areas and riverine stretches in the Katarniaghat landscape, where human-wildlife encounters have been reported periodically.
