News of a deadly conflict between humans and animals has emerged from Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur. Villagers beat a tiger to death. The tiger arrived in the village at around 3 am and attacked a woman. It grabbed her by the neck and started dragging her away. When the woman screamed, nearby people arrived with sticks. They surrounded the tiger and beat it to death. They did not stop at this, they also crushed the tiger’s face with a vehicle.
According to reports, the incident occurred early Wednesday morning in Phulwaria village near Palia town. The woman injured in the tiger attack was admitted to the CHC (Community Health Center). Villagers confronted the forest department team that arrived at the scene. They didn’t allow the tiger’s body to be removed for two hours. With police assistance, the forest department sent the tiger’s body for postmortem.
Villagers have alleged that the forest department had been informed multiple times about a tiger roaming in the village, but no action was taken on their complaint.
Ratanlal’s wife, a resident of Phulwaria village, stepped outside her house at 3 AM for some work. That’s when the tiger attacked her. The tiger grabbed her neck and started dragging her away. Hearing the woman’s screams, villagers arrived to rescue her and surrounded the tiger.
The villagers beat the tiger severely with sticks and iron rods. The injured tiger lay in the village for several hours. Forest department officials arrived much later, by which time the tiger had died.
In a video of the incident that has emerged, the tiger’s face appears crushed. According to Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar, the animal was possibly killed by being crushed under a tractor or some vehicle after it was injured.
According to villagers, there had been fear of a tiger in the area for several days. On Tuesday, a tiger attacked a farmer in the field during the day. Late in the evening, villagers had seen a tiger roaming in the village. They had complained to forest department officials, but the officials took no action.
Field Director of Dudhwa National Park, H Raja Mohan, said that the department team has taken possession of the body and sent it for postmortem. Investigation into the case is ongoing. Whoever is found guilty will face action.
