A leopard purportedly took away a three-year-old girl while she was sitting on her mother’s lap and killed her in West Bengal’s Alipurdar, reports said on Wednesday. The incident occurred at the Garganda tea estate on Tuesday night and parts of the girl’s body were found earlier on Wednesday morning, PTI reported.
She is believed to be the third child to have been killed by a leopard since December 12, according to the Hindustan Times. The girl’s mother, who works on the estate, said she tried to fight the leopard. “I tried my best,” her mother was quoted as saying. “It was so large. I could not save her.”
Ujjawal Ghosh, chief conservator of forest (north), said “I have never heard of such an incident in northern parts of Bengal.”
Local residents initially prevented the authorities from taking away the child’s dismembered body but handed it over after the officials assured the family of a job. The girl’s father is reportedly in Kerala seeking employment.
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