Agra: In a display of remarkable courage, a mother in a village near Agra fought off a leopard to save her 3-year-old daughter.
The encounter took place in Jaitpur's Naugawan village, in the Bah region, on Tuesday afternoon.
According to local sources, Reema, the mother of the child, was washing utensils in the courtyard of her home when she heard her daughter Arpita scream. She turned to see a leopard dragging her daughter away by the face. Without hesitation, Reema rushed to intervene.
Despite being attacked herself, Reema engaged the leopard for nearly 15 minutes in a desperate attempt to save her daughter. “I didn’t care about anything else, just my daughter,” she later told reporters from her hospital bed.
The leopard inflicted injuries on both the child and the mother during the struggle. The child sustained deep bite wounds to her face and head, while Reema was bitten on her finger and received injuries to her head. Eventually, the leopard fled the scene, possibly alarmed by the commotion.
Hearing the screams, neighbours rushed to help, but the animal had already escaped. Forest department officials arrived at the scene to investigate the incident.
Komal Singh, the range officer of Jaitpur, stated that a leopard has never been sighted in the area before. “It could have been a hyena or a jackal,” he said, noting that efforts are underway to confirm the animal's identity.
Reema and her daughter were taken to SN Medical College in Agra for treatment and later transferred back to Jaitpur after receiving primary care. Her husband, Ashish, who was away at the time, rushed home upon receiving the news and took them to the hospital.
Authorities have warned villagers to remain vigilant and are continuing their efforts to track and identify the wild animal involved in the attack.