The identity of the killer wild animal that took the life of a 45-year-old woman last week in the south forest division of Garhwa still remains undiscovered and unsolved.
However, there is the great unanimity and consensus of opinions among the forest officials ranging from DFO South Garhwa division Aviroop Sinha down to the Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF) Palamu Mohan Lal that the woman was killed by a wild life and there is no denying the fact. But, this range of forest officers, do not agree on which animal has killed the woman.
Sources said there are four easy specimens of carnivorous wild life that have a killing propensity. RCCF Mohan Lal said, “There are hyenas, leopards and tigers. I exclude hyena as the killer of the 45 year old woman in her house. About leopards, I can say there is not much of concrete circumstantial evidence or signs to suggest the death of the woman by a leopard. As regards tiger eating that woman it is a total figment of imagination.”
Lal said the pug marks there too were feeble enough to reach any conclusion of the identity of the wild life.
Sources said some enterprising journalists last week rushed with their news capsules on Youtube and on other social media platform that a man eater has consumed this woman. It was read with curious appetite for its sensationalism but in less than a day this ‘revelation’ was corrected by the media people and tiger was replaced by leopard and till date the ‘leopard’ continues to be as enigmatic as ever.
DFO South Division Garhwa district Sinha has some points with him, which neither confirms it is the leopard nor denies it to be not so. The dilemma hangs down.
Apprehending that Sinha may be contradicted by the veteran wild life experts or by his own seniors in Ranchi forest environment & climate change department he said, “ I have spoken to experts of Wild Life Institute Of India Dehradun giving them all the minute details of this killing of the woman and the experts too have not found it crystal clear to declare the killing wild life as a leopard!”
Sinha’s points are academic like when he said, “Leopards eat up bones. Here bones of the woman were scratched only. Leopards have a tendency to attack from behind. It catches hold of its target from the hind. Here the woman was attacked from the front. Her half of the face, head, whole of neck, shoulders were consumed by the wild life.”
Sinha went on saying, “ Leopards are fond of finishing soft tissues but here the soft tissues like lungs of the woman were intact.”
“Leopards do kill its target when it is off guards. Here the woman was asleep and in bed and was in no position to even meekly offer any resistance.” reminded Sinha.
He did not stop here as the more he counted the habits/ tendencies of leopards his versions started becoming a conglomerate of one cutting the other.
“There is a report of a calf of a farmer getting killed by a leopard some 10 Kms away from where this woman was killed which makes us believe leopard is there” added Sinha. RCCF Mohan Lal too corroborated his version.
Sinha like RCCF Lal ruled out any tiger eating this woman adding, “Sloth bear is also seen as eater but since it is a dirty killer and too dirty eater the signs and leftovers of the woman killed do not suggest her killing by any sloth bear.”
By sloth bear being a dirty eater Sinha meant “Sloth bears scatter the residue of their victim and present a nauseating scene at killing site.” Sinha for some ungodly reasons just refused to give the name of the woman killed.
Sources said unless the identity of the wild life is fixed the bereaved family of this woman would not get a pie as compensation as for compensation which is 4 lakhs of rupees per loss of human life the killer wild life is to be identified.