Leopard mauls 4-year-old girl near Valparai

Coimbatore: A leopard mauled a four-year-old girl and dragged her into a tea estate near Valparai in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Friday evening. A search is on inside the tea estate and the adjacent reserve forest to look for the girl.

The missing girl has been identified as Roshini, daughter of a guest worker from Jharkhand.

Forest officials said her parents work in a tea estate at Pachamalai near Valparai. The girl was playing in front of a line of houses for tea estate workers, when the leopard which was hiding in the tea bushes suddenly attacked.

Forest department officials who were alerted, rushed to the spot. "We found two pugmarks but could not find any blood stains in the locality as it was drizzling in the area. It is tough to carry out a search in the reserve forest as there are a lot of wild animals. However, we are continuing the search," said an official from the forest department.

Joint efforts are on by the forest frontline staff, firemen, and police, to find the girl.