Tribal man hacks leopard to death in Kerala’s Idukki

A tribal man in Kerala’s Idukki district hacked a leopard to death allegedly in self-defence on Saturday. The incident was reported at Mankulam village which is situated amidst forest.

According to Gopalan, 45, of Mankulam tribal colony in Idukki district, the incident happened when the leopard pounced on him and bit his hand when he was going to the farmland for work at around 7 am.

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Gopalan fell on the floor after the leopard attacked and mauled him. He then used a machete-like weapon, that was in his possession, to counter the attack and inflicted deep wounds on the animal’s head, leading to its death. Gopalan, who sustained injuries, was admitted to a hospital, forest officials said.

It has been reported that Mankulam residents have been experiencing sleepless nights due to routine leopard attacks for quite some time now

Mankulam division forest officer G Jayachandran said, “Prima facie, it appears that the man killed the leopard in self-defence. So, we are not planning to register any case against him”.