Kamal Ghorui
VADODARA: A tribal man from a tiny village in Chhota Udepur district displayed extraordinary courage, wrestling a leopard with his bare hands, forcing open its jaws and rescuing his four-year-old daughter from death.The incident took place in Rasli village of Pavi Jetpur taluka on Wednesday evening.The girl was playing in the backyard of her house while her mother was working nearby. In the fading light, a leopard crept in and suddenly pounced on her. The mother screamed for help and her father Suresh Rathwa rushed out. He was horrified and froze momentarily, but quickly gathered courage seeing his daughter in the grip of the animal which was trying to drag her away.Rathwa then launched a counterattack on the leopard, snatched the girl and repeatedly dealt body blows to the animal with the other. “The leopard refused to back off and repeatedly tried clawing into Rathwa, who tightly clutched his daughter with the other hand during the few minutes of intense face-off,” said Jaydeep Solanki, range forest officer, Pavi Jetpur.Ultimately, the leopard loosened its grip, released the girl and fled into the fields behind Rathwa’s house.“Rathwa showed a lot of courage. Villagers have spotted leopards in the area earlier, but this was first attack on a human here,” Solanki told TOI. Officials said the girl suffered grievous injuries to her face and neck but she is responding well to the treatment in a local hospital.“The animal likely strayed into the village from a nearby river ravine in search of food,” he said.Locals claimed the leopard was seen again a few hours after the incident and three cages along with trap cameras have been installed around the village to track and capture it.
