VELLORE: A day after a leopard entered Dhruvam village in Veerichitipalli reserved forest and killed a 24-year-old woman, the district forest department constituted a team led by two forest rangers on Thursday morning and commenced a search for the wild animal.
The 15-member team deployed drones and set up trap cameras. Officials said capturing a leopard is prohibited under wildlife laws, so once they locate it, they plan to guide it back into the forest.
District Collector V R Subbulakshmi confirmed late Wednesday night that S Anjali from Dhruvam had died in a leopard attack. The victim, a BCom graduate, was the daughter of Sivalingam, a farmer.
Assistant Conservator of Forests S Manivannan told TNIE that in cases of human deaths due to wildlife attacks, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh is provided by the forest department. Of this amount, Rs 50,000 has already been disbursed, and the remaining amount will be provided after the necessary documentation is completed.
Following the attack, the villagers had staged a two-hour protest, preventing the officials from taking the woman’s body for the autopsy. They demanded basic amenities, including proper roads, bus services, and streetlights in their village. They also sought solar fencing around the area to curb wildlife attacks in the future. The collector assured them that demands would be addressed.
The victim’s body was brought back to the village on Thursday after postmortem at Adukkamparai Government Hospital. However, the villagers refused to accept the body for another hour, reiterating their demands. They also criticised the forest department for failing to monitor wildlife movement in the region, despite complaints.
After the officials assured them that the facilities would be provided, the villagers accepted her body and conducted a funeral. KV Kuppam MLA M Jagan Moorthy paid his respects to Anjali and offered condolences to the family.