Balh (Mandi), April 18
Nirmala Devi, 30-year-old woman of Pipli village near here, battled with a leopard for almost 15 minutes before she killed the spotted beast with a sickle as villagers watched from a safe distance yesterday.
According to information gathered from the Balh police post, Nirmala had gone to cut grass near the Gehru nullah. A rustle of leaves, and a leopard leapt on her. Nirmala swerved to the right and attacked with her sickle, ripping open the big cat’s left eye. The leopard caught her leg and sunk its teeth and claws. She cried in pain, but at the same time swung the sickle, again landing a deep gash on the leopard’s left leg.
Hearing the screams of Nirmala, the village folk started crowding the area. But none of them dared to approach the two.
It was a battle to the
finish. With the leopard sinking its teeth in Nirmala’s left hand, she swung her right hand again, the sickle landing a deep cut in the spotted beast’s thigh. The leopard fell back. This is what the seriously injured Nirmala was waiting for. She landed another fatal blow.
The big cat lying motionless, the crowd also moved closer. But Nirmala had deep gashes in both her arms and legs and on her head also. She was rushed to the Mandi Zonal Hospital. Seeing her critical condition, the hospital authorities referred her to the PGI,
Chandigarh.
Police and Forest Officers of the range visited the site and carried out a post-mortem of the leopard and buried the animal’s body.
