Tiger kills woman, dies after being rescued by foresters

A tiger attacked and killed a woman and injured four others in a village near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh in the wee hours of Sunday.

Following the incident, irate villagers assaulted a team of forest officials, resulting in serious injuries to a forest ranger while a female staffer was also injured. Tragically, the tiger, which reportedly attacked the villagers, also died after Forest Department officials located and tranquilized it nearby to rescue the feline.

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The incident occurred at around 3 am at Kherwa Tola locality in Panpatha village near the tiger reserve.

According to BTR Deputy Director Anupam Sahay, the tiger killed a woman and injured three to four persons. Locals identified the deceased as Phool Bai Pal (48).

Meanwhile, Forest officials located and tranquilized the tiger. However, when the team brought the tiger to the BTR camp, it was found dead in the cage.

Sources claimed that the tiger died due to a possible overdose of the tranquilizer coupled with extreme heat exhaustion. Forest Department officials stated that the exact cause of the tiger’s death would be ascertained only after the postmortem report.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav expressed condolences to the family of the deceased woman. He said in a statement, “I have issued directives to provide financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh to the family of the deceased, as well as to ensure free medical treatment and appropriate compensation for the injured”.