2 women die in separate animal attacks in Ramanagaram

Two women were killed in separate attacks by a bear and a leopard in Ramanagaram district on Thursday.

A five months pregnant woman died after she was attacked by a sloth bear at Chokasandra village in Kanakapura taluk, Ramanagaram district, in the wee hours.

The victim Suma Bai, 25, is the wife of Praveen Kumar Naik. The woman died on the spot. She had gone to answer nature's call when she was attacked by the animal, just 50 metres from her house. Chokasandra is at a distance of 1 km from the Bananthawari state forest, under Ramanagaram forest division.

She was first spotted lying in a pool of blood at around 5.30 am by Muttaswamy Naik, a local resident who informed the police and the forest officials. The officials rushed her to a government hospital where she was declared brought dead.

Vijay Kumar, deputy conservator of forests, Ramanagaram forest division, told DH that initially people suspected it to be a leopard attack. But injuries and post-mortem confirmed that it was a sloth bear attack, he said.

"There were nail marks on her neck and near her ears, which confirm that it is a sloth bear attack. There were four marks which were four- to five-inch deep," said Dinesh, range forest officer.

Bears are shy and nocturnal animals. To ensure that such incidents do not recur, the department has issued a warning to the village residents. The officials have asked them not to venture out during evening and night hours.

"Night-long combing operations will be undertaken for the next two to three days. The aim is to scare and drive the bears into the forest. The local residents also want the same. If any untoward incident repeats, the animals will have to be captured," Dinesh said.

In another incident of human-animal conflict reported in the district on Thursday, a 40-year-old woman was killed in a leopard attack at Chikkasulikere in Ramanagaram taluk.

The victim Puttamma (40) was grazing cattle at her farm when the leopard pounced on her.