Two people have died in leopard attacks in Udaipur’s Gogunda in twenty-four hours leading to protests by locals who jammed the state highway between Jhadol and Gogunda.

On Wednesday, a 16-year-old girl, Kamla, went to the forest to graze goats in the Undithal village. When the girl did not return in the evening, people in the village began searching for her and the next day her body was found. Her body had been dragged 4 kilometres inside the forest.

The second incident followed closely on Thursday about 3 kilometres away from Undithal village in neighbouring Bhediya in the evening when a man, Khemaram, was returning to the village accompanied by his son. They were attacked by the leopard. The boy ran for help, but the leopard caught Khemaram by his neck and he died on the spot. 

When people reached the spot they found the leopard sitting next to the body of the man, raising fear among the villagers that the animal could have become a man-eater and alleged that the wild animal was the same one that attacked Kamla and Khemaram.

The forest department is scanning the area for the leopard and has placed a cage to catch it. Trackers have been installed in the forest to catch and tranquilise it. 

Experts say man-animal conflicts are increasing as the number of leopards has gone up while forest areas are shrinking. Experts also suggest that based on two attacks it is premature to conclude that it is a man-eater. 

Leopards often stray close to human habitation and carry away domestic animals, they are also known to attack human beings on the periphery of forest areas. On September 8, a similar attack took place on a woman near Udaipur’s Jhadol.