Mysuru, 10 May

A 10-year-old boy from Bengaluru was attacked and killed by a leopard in the MM Hills of Hanur Taluk in Chamarajanagar district on Sunday.

This is the second such case in the area in three months. Police have identified the deceased as Harshith, son of Suresh, resident of Laggere ward of Bengaluru.

A group of ten devotees, along with the parents of Harshith, arrived from Bengaluru at MM Hills on Saturday. They stayed in MM Hills Guest House after having Darshan at Male Mahadeshwara temple.

They took out a padayatra to Nagamale after collecting a ticket from the Forest Department at 6am.

The leopard attacked the boy along the Nagamale stretch in the jungles near Indiganatha settlement and dragged him to the woods. Even though the parents of Harshith and other padayatra devotees shouted for help and attempted to rescue Harshith, the leopard dragged him into the thick jungles and killed him.

Namma Kannadigara Sene State organising Secretary Ponnachi Snehajeevi Raju condemned the failure of the Forest Department.

In a similar incident, a leopard had recently attacked a boy who took out a padayatra along with other devotees near Talebetta along the MM Hills stretch, but survived with minor injuries.