On Friday evening, a leopard dragged a 7-year-old boy out of his home and killed him in Azamgarhpurva village of Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district. The incident has instilled fear among local families amid a series of recent animal attacks. Angry villagers protested by blocking the road with the child's body, accusing authorities of inaction.
Around 7 pm on Friday, Phula Devi was preparing dinner in her home in Azamgarhpurva village, Bahraich district, when a power outage left the area dimly lit by an oil lamp. Her sister-in-law Meena, sitting on a cot cutting vegetables, spotted a leopard entering the house and pouncing on 7-year-old Raghuveer, who was playing in the courtyard.
Meena raised an alarm, but by the time family members and neighbors arrived, the animal had dragged the child into the fields. A search party found the boy in a mutilated condition about 500 meters away. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Raghuveer's uncle Virendra Kumar said, "As people began chasing the animal, it left the child in the field and escaped into the darkness."
The boy's father, Ram Vilas, was away in Mau district for work and returned on Saturday morning. Enraged by the incident, villagers staged a protest by placing the child's body on the road, alleging repeated wildlife attacks despite pleas for action. Forest Department officials arrived, pacified the crowd, and convinced them to end the protest after promising measures.
Virendra Kumar stated, "Now we don’t feel safe even inside our own homes. The incident has horrified everyone here. People in the village are now discussing ways to protect themselves and deal with such situations in the future."
The grieving mother Phula Devi recounted, "My son was playing in the courtyard, as he often did in the evenings. Suddenly, I heard my sister-in-law screaming that an animal had caught my child. When I rushed to the courtyard, Raghuveer was no longer there."
Ram Vilas, a farmer, added, "My son studied in Class 4. I still cannot understand how such a tragedy happened or whom to hold responsible for my child’s death."
The village has around 100 houses, with most residents relying on farming. The area falls under the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary along the India-Nepal border and has seen several animal attacks, including fatal ones by leopards and wolves, in recent times. A senior forest official confirmed the death was due to a leopard attack. The body was handed over to the family, who performed rituals and buried it. Raghuveer is survived by his parents and a 10-year-old elder sister.
