Middle-aged woman repels attack by leopard in Mumbai

Showing courage and grit, a middle-aged woman repelled an attack by a leopard outside her house located in the periphery of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Mumbai.

This is the fifth such attack in over a month’s time – and has been captured on a CCTV camera just opposite the scene of the incident.

The incident took place at around 8 pm on Wednesday night at Visava Workers settlement in Aarey Colony located off the SGNP.

The woman, Nirmaladevi Rambadan Singh, aged between 55 and 60, was attacked by the leopard on the prowl when she was sitting at the verandah in front of her house.

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Nirmaladevi, who was carrying a walking stick, could barely settle down before the leopard pounded on her like a bolt from out of the blue.

She fell back twice before she mustered courage and hit and jabbed the leopard with the walking stick.

The woman suffered attack marks on her face, neck, elbow, chest and back.

Hearing her screams, her family members and neighbours rushed out – forcing the leopard to retreat and speedily vanish into the jungle.

CCTV footage showed the presence of the leopard even before the woman could sit down – and as soon as she did, the big cat charged at her.

On Tuesday, a leopard cub was rescued from a spot near the Mumbai Metro Phase-3 car shed, but its mother remains elusive. The cub is now at the Leopard Rescue Centre of SGNP.

The SGNP, spread over 103 sq km, has the largest leopard density of the world – with 47 leopards roaming the jungles in the middle of urban expanses.

The SGNP and its larger periphery — spread in three districts of Mumbai Suburban, Palghar and Thane — is frequented by the people of Mumbai.

Besides leopards, the SGNP and its neighborhood which include the Aarey Milk Colony and FilmCity is home to more than 275 species of birds, 35 species of mammals, 80 species of reptiles and amphibians, 170 species of butterflies, several species of fish and a staggering 1,300 species of plants.

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