Uttar Pradesh: Girl pecked to death by pair of cranes

Lucknow: In a shocking incident, an eight-year-old was pecked to death by a pair of Sarus cranes in Sitapur district.

The incident took place in Samanpur Maafi village in Mahmoodabad tehsil. According to reports, the eight-year-old had taken her goats for grazing along with  her three friends.

Divisional forest officer, Sitapur, Anirudh Pandey said, “The girl apparently had gone too close to the eggs of Sarus cranes and this infuriated the birds after which two of them attacked her by pecking at her continuously. The girl kept crying for help and in an attempt to flee from the cranes, fell into a nearby ditch.”

The other children, who were at the spot, said the cranes went back to their spot after the girl fell. The three children are the only eyewitnesses to the incident.

The DFO said that his staff had gone to the spot after they were informed about the incident. The spot where the incident took place is about 10 km from the children’s village. 

It took them an hour to go back and inform the girl’s father about the attack. The girl was alive when she was rescued from the ditch but had deep cuts on her body. She died at a hospital during treatment. The girl’s family did not allow a post-mortem.