Leopard mauls 3-year-old to death, eats her

Thane: A three-year-old girl was mauled to death by a leopard at a village near Kasara in Thane district in the early hours, police said.

The victim, Deepali Bhagat, was sleeping beside her mother in their thatched hut at Doipada village under Sahapur taluka near Kasara when the leopard on the prowl dragged away the child at around 5 am on Sunday, they said.

Later, the villagers found her mauled body in a nearby forest. According to reports, a part of the girl's right hand was eaten up.

The Kasara police went to the spot and sent the body for postmortem.

Sahapur MLA Pandurang Barora, who also rushed to take stock of the incident, said forest officials were summoned to the spot along with the medical officers and policemen.

Barora said an immediate relief of Rs 20,000 has been given to the family. An additional assistance of Rs 5 lakh would be given to them within a couple of days by the forest department, he added.