Chennai, June 26 (IANS) A leopard who was suspected to have killed a four-year-old girl near Valparai in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district has been successfully trapped by the Forest Department.

Officials confirmed that the animal was captured in the early hours of Thursday in a cage placed near Pachamalai, close to a tea estate where the child was attacked.

The cage had been strategically installed about 700 metres from the line houses of estate workers — near the very spot where the leopard mauled the child, Roshini Kumari, around 6:30 P.M. on Friday, June 20.

The leopard reportedly dragged the girl into nearby tea bushes and deeper into an adjacent forest patch. Her remains were recovered around 11:30 A.M. the following day.

Roshini, the daughter of migrant workers from Jharkhand, had recently moved with her family to the tea estate at Pachamalai after leaving another estate in Valparai just 10 days earlier.

In response to the attack, the Forest Department’s Pollachi Range deployed 20 camera traps to monitor leopard activity near the workers’ residential lines and the surrounding forest patches.

Authorities from the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) coordinated the effort.

As part of the government’s support measures, Pollachi MP K. Eswarasamy on Sunday handed over a solatium of Rs 9.5 lakh to Roshini’s parents.

An immediate relief of Rs 50,000 was disbursed to the family on Saturday itself.

This latest incident has once again highlighted the persistent issue of human-wildlife conflict in the Valparai plateau, an area known for frequent leopard sightings, especially during dawn and dusk.

Forest authorities have urged estate workers and local residents to remain vigilant and avoid venturing out during early morning or night-time hours.

Additional safety protocols and community awareness measures are being reinforced.

This is the third major leopard-related incident in Valparai in recent months.

In October 2024, another four-year-old girl, Apsara Khatun — also from a migrant family from Jharkhand — was killed in a leopard attack near Uzhemala estate.

Earlier, on November 6, 2023, a seven-year-old boy named Pradeep was injured in a leopard encounter near Sirukundra within ATR limits.

Wildlife experts have called for long-term mitigation strategies, including the installation of protective fencing, better lighting in workers’ quarters, and potential relocation of vulnerable settlements away from forest edges.

Forest officials have assured local communities that sustained efforts will continue to prevent further tragedies and ensure human safety in the region.

—IANS

aal/rad