a 12-year-old boy was killed in a tiger attack in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve of Umaria district on Saturday morning. The boy was identified as Vijay Kol. Vijay’s body was later recovered from a nearby stream. Vijay Kol, a resident of Pipariya village, had gone to the forest area of Dhamokhar village with his grandfather and uncle to collect Mahua flowers. They were collecting flowers when a tiger suddenly emerged from the bushes and attacked the boy. The tiger dragged him into the husks. Hearing the loud screams of the boy, his grandfather, local villagers and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve team rushed to the spot and started a search operation.

 

After some time, the team found the boy’s body in a stream. A student of class 6, Vijay was the only son in his family and had a sister. At the time of the attack, both his grandfather and uncle Sanjay were nearby, also collecting Mahua. They witnessed the attack and started shouting for help, but the tiger quickly disappeared into the bushes with Vijay. Forest Department personnel, alerted by the commotion, chased the tiger. The tiger left the body near a stream and entered into the dense forest. According to the Range Officer Umaria, receiving the information of a tiger attack, forest team reached the spot and found that some villagers from Biduriya near Pipariya had entered the jungle to collect Mahua flowers.

 

They were busy collecting flowers, when a tiger appeared and dragged a 12-year-old boy. In a combined search by forest personnel and villagers, body of the missing boy was found in a stream amidst bushes. Pipariya village Sarpanch Raju expressed his concern over repeated tiger attacks and appearance of tiger in nearby forest village as three cases of tiger attack have been frequently reported in the recent past. He urged the Forest Department to relocate the tigress from the area and demanded appropriate compensation for the bereaved family. This is the third fatal attack during the current Mahua season.

 

On April 2, a 27-year-old woman named Rani Singh from Kothia village was killed by a tiger in the Chansura beat of Panpatha Core Zone while collecting Mahua. Earlier, on March 23, a 50-year-old cattle herder was attacked and killed by a tigress in North Paljha beat of Panpatha Buffer Zone of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve while grazing his livestock. Taking prompt action into the case, forest administration provided immediate financial relief and provided a compensation of Rs 8 lakh to the bereaved family. Villagers are reeling under fear and raised serious questions about human-wildlife conflict in forest-fringe villages.