LUCKNOW: A 32-year-old woman was mauled to death by a leopard in Bahraich’s Sujauli area on Thursday evening, marking the fourth reported human death in a leopard attack in the district in the past one month, according to officials.The victim, Mamta Devi, was attacked around 5pm in Gradian Purwa village, barely 10 metres from her house, while she had gone to a field to pluck ridge gourd.According to her family and villagers, she had been in the field for about two minutes when the leopard emerged from an adjoining sugarcane field and attacked her.Forest officials confirmed that the woman was killed in a leopard attack. The animal reportedly remained near her body after the attack and fled only after villagers rushed towards the spot carrying sticks and raised an alarm.Mamta suffered deep bite and claw injuries around her neck and shoulder, villagers said.According to the family, Mamta’s mother-in-law, Badami Devi, saw the leopard near the body and raised an alarm. Villagers then gathered at the spot and drove the animal away.Police and forest officials reached the village soon after. Sujauli SHO Ram Govind Verma said the body was sent for postmortem examination after police completed the necessary proceedings.Mamta is survived by three children — 10-year-old Shivmangal, five-year-old Tunnu and three-year-old Shivani. Shivmangal studies in Class 3 at Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Sujauli.Her husband, Rajendra Chauhan, works at a tile factory in Rajasthan, while his parents are engaged in farming.Villagers said the leopard had been spotted repeatedly in agricultural fields around the village over the past several days.DFO, Katarniaghat, Apoorv Dixit, confirmed the incident to TOI and said teams were on the ground to trace the leopard.He appealed to residents living near forests and agricultural fields to remain particularly cautious during the monsoon season and avoid venturing into forest-adjacent areas without taking necessary precautions.
