Representative image of a police van.
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Bahraich: The half-eaten body of a 10-month-old girl, who was taken away by an unidentified wild animal while she was sleeping with her mother in a hut outside their house, was found from a field in this Uttar Pradesh district on Saturday, officials said.
The incident took place on Friday night in Khiriya Sharif village under the Kotwali Dehat police station area of Bahraich district, they added.
On Saturday, the girl's half-eaten body was found from a field in the village. One arm and a leg of the girl were eaten by the animal and her face had severe injury marks, the officials said.
This was the second incident of a young child being killed by a wild animal in the district within a few hours.
"Rama Devi was sleeping with her 10-month-old daughter, Sunita, in a hut outside her house in Khiriya Sharif village. When she woke up at midnight, the child was missing. Villagers began searching for the girl and several hours later, her mutilated body was found from a field," Forest Range Officer Vinod Kumar Nayak told PTI.
He said the girl's face bore severe wounds, suggesting that an animal might have grabbed her by the mouth. "One of the girl's arms and one of her legs were also missing," the official said.
He said the pugmarks spotted at the site where the body was found were small, making it difficult to ascertain which animal was responsible for the incident.
"A wolf's pugmarks are not that small. It could be a jackal or a wild dog or even a rabies-infected dog," Nayak said.
The ranger said the girl's post-mortem has been conducted and experts are looking into the incident.
Four forest department teams are combing the sugarcane fields in the area in search of the animal. Drones will be used on Sunday. Cages may also be installed based on expert advice, the officials said.
A five-year-old boy playing outside his house was injured in a wolf attack on Friday evening in Mallahan Purva village of Kaiserganj tehsil, about 40 kilometres from the scene where the girl was taken by the wild animal.
The child died late at night while being taken to Lucknow for treatment. The forest department has launched a search for the wolves with the help of drones. Three cages have been installed in the area, the officials said.