Leopard mauls toddler girl to death in Gujarat village
Tapi (Guj): A three-year-old girl was mauled to death by a leopard at a village in Gujarat's Tapi district, a forest official said on Saturday.
The toddler was taken away by a wild animal while her family members were working at a brick kiln in Hanumantiya village on Friday evening, said range forest officer (RFO) Chirag Ajara.
"After hours of search, the family members found the girl's body with her severed head lying near a sugarcane field around midnight. Primarily, we suspect that she was attacked by a leopard. Her body has been sent for postmortem," said Ajara, RFO, Sadadval forest range in the Tapi district.
The victim was the daughter of a migrant labourer who hailed from Khargone in Madhya Pradesh.
"The incident occurred when she was playing outside the shack near the brick kiln on Friday evening. After her family members realised that she was missing, they launched a search, only to find her body with the severed head," said Ajara.
He said forest department officials visited the site and set up six cages to trap the leopard.
