Garhwal Post Bureau
Haldwani, 26 Feb: A 53-year-old woman was killed in a tiger attack in Paniyali village under the Fatehpur range of Nainital district, triggering panic and anger among local residents. The woman had gone to the forest this morning to collect grass but did not return home till afternoon. Her family members launched a search and discovered her body nearly two kilometres away from the village inside the forest area. The incident has created an atmosphere of fear in the village, with residents expressing reluctance to venture into the forest.
A team from the Forest Department reached the spot, took the body into custody and initiated further proceedings. Local residents have meanwhile voiced strong concern over the increasing movement of tigers in the area.
According to information received, Kamla Fartyal, aged 53, had left her home around 9 a.m. to cut grass for her cattle. She lived alone in her house. She has a daughter who is married. The deceased reared a cow and had gone to the forest to collect fodder for it. When she failed to return for a long time, her relatives went in search of her. In the afternoon, her body was recovered nearly two kilometres away from her residence. The body was found in a badly mutilated condition. Some villagers claimed that a large portion of the body had been eaten by the tiger.
This is the second such incident in past 15 days in the area, leading to widespread anger among villagers. As officials of the Forest Department arrived at the scene, agitated residents raised slogans in their presence. Villagers staged a protest by placing the body at the Forest Department outpost and later at Kathgharia crossing, demanding action. The protesters raised slogans of justice and demanded that the man-eating tiger be shot. Police personnel also reached the spot and attempted to pacify the demonstrators.
SDM Haldwani Pramod Kumar stated that information regarding the woman going missing was received at around 5 p.m. Her body was later recovered from the forest, and it has been confirmed that she was killed in an attack by a wild animal. He added that a similar incident had occurred in a nearby area a few days ago, which has contributed to public anger.
