Mumbai: A woman farm labourer was mauled to death by a wild animal, suspected to be a tiger or leopard, in a forest in Chandrapur district, the police said on Saturday.
The deceased identified as Sakhubai Kasture (55) was located around 160 km from Nagpur, where she had gone to work at a farm in forest on Friday. Kasture is a resident of Pendhri village in Chandrapur, revealed an officer at Patri police station. When she did not return home till late night, villagers went on to search her and spotted her body in a forest area in Sawali tehsil on Saturday early morning, he said.
According to the police officer, there were injuries and animal marks on the body and some bloodstains were also found on her clothes.
Pug marks of tiger and leopard were also noticed near the body on the ground, he said, adding that the police and forest officials visited the spot and were investigating the incident.
As per the officials, tigers and leopards are often spotted in the forest area. The Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve, the oldest and largest national park in Maharashtra, is located in Chandrapur district.
Notably, a tigress named Avni, who was believed to have turned man-eater and killed 13 people in the last two years in Yavatmal district’s Pandharkawda area, was shot dead in the Borati forest last week. The killing led to outrage among animal lovers and wildlife organisations.
