Wayanad tiger attack: Locals stage protest, demand big cat be killed

Wayanad, Kerala: Intense protests erupted once again in the Mananthavady area of the hill district on Saturday, with locals demanding that the tiger responsible for killing a 47-year-old woman at an estate the previous day be killed rather than captured alive.

Radha, who belonged to scheduled caste community, was mauled by the tiger while she was out plucking coffee at the Priyadarshini Estate in Mananthavady village on Friday morning.

After her mortal remains were handed over to her family and the funeral was over, locals turned up outside the forest officials base camp and demanded that the tiger be killed.

They sought to know why the forest officials were trying to cage the animal when there was an order to shoot it down, according to visuals shown on TV channels.

The forest officials clarified that the order issued by the Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G Krishnan on Friday has directed that maximum effort be put to cage or tranquilise the feline in accordance with the guidelines and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, failing which to shoot it down.

However, the protestors, which included tribal women living in the estate, were not satisfied and the protest continued outside the base camp.

Earlier in the morning, forest officials said capturing the tiger is the first priority and that cages are being set up in various places in the area.

The officials also said that there will be no haste in carrying out the operation in order to ensure that the tiger does not move on to another area.

"If it moves to another area, all that we have done here will have to be done there also," the official said.

Another official said that images of the tiger were captured in cameras set up in the area and efforts were on to identify the feline.

The tiger attack had sparked intense protests in the area on Friday also with locals preventing the victim's remains from being taken for postmortem till the authorities assured safety of the people and capture or killing of the tiger.

Subsequently, after O R Kelu, the Minister for the Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, assured them that steps would be taken to ensure public safety and capture or kill the tiger, they allowed Radha's remains to be taken for postmortem.

Thereafter, the CWC issued the order to capture or kill the tiger and prohibitory orders under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) were also issued to prevent all types of public gatherings in four divisions of Mananthavady municipality till the animal was captured.

Besides that, a dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Congress in the Mananthavady area for Saturday is also in effect.

The attack on the woman occurred a day after Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran claimed in the assembly that human-animal conflicts were declining in the state, and the government was taking effective action.