Leopard mauls girl on way to Tirumala

For the second time in a week, a leopard attacked a devotee on the footpath to Tirumala from Alipiri on Sunday. A nine-member pilgrim party was on its way to Tirumala by foot at night when at around 1.45 am they saw a full-grown leopard following them on a parallel track.

Before the panic-stricken pilgrims could react, the animal pounced on eight-year-old Kalyani and began dragging her away. Thankfully, the shouts from the pilgrims forced the leopard to drop its prey and flee. The girl suffered injuries to her right hand and shoulder and a deep gash on the back.

The profusely-bleeding girl was rushed to the SVRR Government Hospital in Tirupati for treatment and doctors have declared her to be out of danger. The girl’s father Narasimham, is a daily wager from Guntakal.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, executive officer, Mr I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, and the chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Mr P. Mallikarjuna Rao, called on the injured girl and consoled her parents at the hospital in the early hours.

Following the incident, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and the Wildlife Division (Tirupati) jointly took a decision to close the Alipiri footpath to devotees from 4 pm to 6 am with effect from August 2 for the next one week. A few days back a three-year-old girl was attacked by a leopard in roughly the same area.