Row erupts after tiger mauls 21-year-old tribal woman to death
The villagers carried the woman’s body to the forest office in Kagaznagar where they staged a sit-in, demanding justice for the deceased’s family
A 21-year-old tribal woman was mauled to death by a tiger while she was working in cotton fields in Telangana’s Komaram Bheem Asifabad district on Friday morning, officials said.
The incident occurred at Gannaram village in Kagaznagar forest range at around 7.30 am. The deceased was identified as Vadai Kalyani (21) of Gannaram village, principal chief conservator of forests (wild life) Elusing Meru said.
“It is an unfortunate incident. The woman, along with a few other villagers, was working in cotton fields for harvesting the crop. A tiger attacked her from behind and mauled her badly, killing her on the spot,” Meru said.
The tiger escaped into the forest after other workers in the fields raised an alarm. The villagers carried the woman’s body to the forest office in Kagaznagar where they staged a sit-in, demanding justice for the deceased’s family.
The villagers demanded that the Forest Department initiate immediate measures to catch the tigers and provide them protection. “As per the norms, the department will pay ₹10 lakh as compensation to the family of the deceased,” the official said.
About 10 days ago, the forest department authorities identified the movement of a male tiger Johnny, which is believed to have travelled for 300 km from Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctury in Maharashtra’s Nanded district to Kawal tiger sanctuary covering Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad and Nirmal districts of Telangana in search of a mate.
Following the movement of the tiger, the forest officials alerted the villagers along the region. The tiger is believed to have killed five cattle at Dhaba village on November 24 and made several unsuccessful attempts to hunt cows.
On Thursday, too, there was a report of a tiger killed a calf grazing in the forests of Sonapur on the Maharashtra border. The tiger was sighted at an eco-bridge near Goyagaon village in Wankidi block on National Highway 363, triggering panic among people.
“We are yet to ascertain whether it was the same tiger Johnny which killed the woman this morning. We are tracking its movements,” the PCCF said.
Deputy conservator of forests (wild life) Vadlakonda Anjaneyulu said of late, there has been a movement of tigers from Maharashtra to Asifabad and Adilabad forests in search of mates. “They are no threat to humans. A tiger generally does not attack human beings, unless it feels insecure when it confronts them,” he said.
He said there were reports from the local forest officials about some people trying to take pictures and videos of the tiger. “This might have led to the tiger attacking the woman at Gannaram village,” Anjaneyulu said.
The DCF said the forest officials were tracking the movement of the tigers by installing CCTV camera traps and deploying animal trackers. They advised the villagers to avoid sudden confrontations with the tigers and not to venture deep inside the forests.
“We have noticed the movement of at least four tigers along with their cubs from Maharashtra into Telangana, where there is a continuity of forests. In the recent past, we have evicted 142 families from Rampur and Maisampet villages in Kawal wildlife sanctuary and relocated them elsewhere. This resulted in the availability of a vast extent of habitat for tigers. Hence the movement of tigers,” Anjaneyulu added.