TIRUPATI / ANANTAPUR: A six-year-old girl is suspected to have been killed by a leopard while she was walking to Tirumala along the Alipiri footpath on Friday night. According to information, Lakshitha had been walking far ahead of her parents Dinesh and Sasikala. They had come from Pothireddypalem in Kovvur mandal of Nellore district for having darshan of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala.
Lakshitha went missing between 7.30 pm and 8 pm on Friday. Her parents searched for her in vain and alerted the TTD officials. About 70 personnel of devasthanams’ vigilance and security, local police and forest department launched a search operation.
They discovered Lakshitha's lifeless body on the back side of Narasimha Swamy temple at about 4 am on Saturday. “Forest staff examined injuries on Lakshitha. They suspect the girl might have succumbed to injuries inflicted by a leopard,” a security officer disclosed.
CCTV footage at Alipiri entry point and other areas confirm that Lakshitha had been walking alone ahead of her family. Preliminary investigations indicate that the leopard suddenly appeared from the thickets and caught Lakshitha who had been walking alone at the time.
The leopard killed the kid and ate a part of her body before leaving. However, the area’s chief conservator of forests directed his staff to reconstruct the scene and determine whether the wild animal that attacked had been a leopard or a bear.
The incident has stirred concerns over safety of the Alipiri footpath route that passes through dense forests. A three-year-old boy had miraculously survived a similar attack by a leopard at the 7th mile of the footpath in June.
TTD executive officer A. Dharma Reddy visited the spot and asked forest department to file a report within two days. Police handed over Lakshitha's body to her parents after conducting a post-mortem.
