Four people, including three children, were injured in separate animal attack incidents in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, officials said on Friday.
This includes a minor girl and a man who were attacked by a leopard near Katarniaghat, while the other two incidents, suspected to be wolf attacks, were reported in Bahraich forest division.
Katarniaghat Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Shiv Shankar confirmed the leopard attack. “Two persons, including a 13-year-old girl, Sahiba from Ayodhya Purwa, and 35-year-old Madhusudan from Harkapur, were injured in the incident,” he said.
Speaking to ANI, Sahiba’s mother, Sabina Khatoon, said, “At 11.30 pm, it started raining, so we went to sleep in our room. At that time, the child was outside. We heard some noises, so we rushed out and saw a leopard pouncing from the roof and attacking her. We started shouting. The animal had caught the child and was about to flee by climbing the wall adjacent to our house. However, as it was trying to escape, the girl fell down. The animal roamed on the roof for a bit and then jumped away.”
Sahiba’s uncle, Mohammad Razzaq Khan, said, “Our house is not very close to the forest, the distance is about 500 metres. The leopard attacked while she was outside. By the time we started shouting, the leopard had already left and ran away.”
The family also described how they tried to seek medical help.
“We called the ambulance, but there is no proper medical facility here. A private doctor visits for only two hours during the day and then leaves,” Khan said. Sahiba has been referred to a hospital in Lucknow for further treatment.
The other two incidents were reported in the Bahraich forest division. Authorities said the attacks appeared to be caused by wolves or dogs.
In the first incident, a 5-year-old girl named Mamata from Nakha village was allegedly attacked by a wolf.
“The wolf bit her, mostly on the neck, but she is safe. The wolf snatched her and ran, but we followed and were able to rescue her. It was around 1.30 am, and it was dark, so we couldn’t clearly recognize the animal,” her uncle said.
That same evening, a six-month-old infant named Rajesh, who was visiting his maternal grandmother’s house in Ghumni village, was also allegedly attacked by a wolf, according to his relatives.
Ajeet Singh, District Forest Officer of Bahraich, did not confirm whether the attacks were caused by wolves but shared initial findings.
“When we went to investigate, we asked the villagers, including the father of one of the children, what they saw. He told us he did not see any animal, and some nearby villagers said the same. We searched the area and found paw marks under the cot where the girl was lying. These marks seem to belong to a dog,” Singh said.
He added, “The girl has a boil and some rashes all over her body. There’s a slight scratch from the boil, but it’s not serious. It’s very minor.”
The DFO mentioned it could be the sixth reported wolf sighting, saying, “There should be a presence of wolves in the area because they were seen yesterday and the day before.”
Singh also said that efforts have been made to capture the animal, but heavy rainfall has hindered operations.
“We placed cages, but due to incessant rain, the animal didn’t get trapped. We couldn’t complete our day operations because of waterlogging, and the drone couldn’t operate due to rain. As soon as the weather clears, we will try to catch it,” he added.
