Girl, labourer survive separate leopard attacks in Junagadh dist

13-01-2010
Girl, labourer survive separate leopard attacks in Junagadh dist
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/Girl-labourer-survive-separate-leopard-attacks-in-Junagadh-dist/articleshow/5441958.cms

A seven-year-old girl from Jeerani village of Dhari taluka of Junagadh was grievously hurt in a leopard attack on Tuesday night.

According to sources in the village, Vaghu Chorala and his family were working in a field on Tuesday evening when the incident happened. His daughter Sonal was fixing the pipes among the standing cotton crops when a leopard jumped out from behind the crops and attacked her. Sonal's elder sister, who was also standing nearby, starting screaming which scared the wild cat away.

However, the little girl suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to Amreli's government hospital, where she is in a serious condition, doctors said.

Earlier on Monday, a labourer was attacked by a leopard while working in a sugarcane field in Surva village of Talala taluka on Monday. Kalusing Pandvi, 35, survived the attack, as his coworkers managed to shoo away the big cat.

According to the forest department, the incident occurred early on Monday morning when Pandvi was sleeping in the fields. "The leopard, which had apparently made its abode in the camouflage of sugarcanes, sprang upon Pandvi and started dragging him towards the forest. However, hearing his cries, other labourers rushed to his rescue and seeing them, the leopard left Pandvi and vanished in the darkness," said a forester.