Leopard kills woman in Aarey Milk Colony

A woman living in Goregaon's Aarey Colony in Mumbai was killed in a leopard attack that took place in the wee hours of Saturday. Established in 1949, Aarey Milk Colony has gardens, a nursery, lakes, an observation pavilion, picnic facilities, and milk plants

Speaking to reporters, Ganesh Talpade, nephew of the deceased woman, said that his aunt had gone to answer the nature's call when the leopard attacked and kliled her. "My aunt had gone for toilet, when we suddenly heard her shouting. We saw that leopard had attacked her. We started shouting and the villagers also gathered at the site. Leopard dragged her till some point and then sped away," said Talpade

Meanwhile, Raghunath, a local said despite repeated complaints, forest officials have not made any arrangements for their safety, "Such incidents have happened twice, but no forest officials have come to take stock of the situation. We have complained repeatedly in police station and forest department but we do not get any response. They say that they are not concerned and even if they come they do not take any action," said Raghunath

The Citizens Forest Initiative had hosted a leopard awareness campaign in October 2012 to reduce man-animal conflict after a girl was attacked and killed by a leopard on the periphery of Sanjay National Park (SGNP) in July

There have been leopard attacks on humans and domestic animals since they find easy meal around human settlements. The p ark has witnessed some of the severe human leopard conflicts in the past decade more than 100 incidents of leopard attacks where reported leading to 57 deaths in and around the peripheral areas of the park.

The majority of the attacks were on women and children as reported by the Forest Department.