The family of the victim was given Rs 10,000 for immediate assistance. (Representational)
An 8-year-old girl's mutilated body was found in a village under Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary after she was allegedly dragged by a leopard from her house here, police said on Wednesday.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) B. Shivshankar the incident occurred on Tuesday evening when the victim was playing in the courtyard of her house.
The villagers told the authorities that three girls were playing in the courtyard of their house in Dharmapur village. Two of them went inside and Shyama stayed in the courtyard when a leopard dragged her, the DFO said.
Following this, the victim's parents began searching for her and when they could not find her, they approached the forest department, he said.
The forest department's patrolling team along with the victim's family and locals began searching for the girl. They found blood stains and the footprints of a leopard, he said.
The girl's mutilated body, allegedly mauled by the leopard, was found in a sugarcane field on Wednesday morning, DFP Shivshankar said.
The family of the victim was given Rs 10,000 for immediate assistance.
Forest Range Officer Mobeen Arif said that after getting the post-mortem report, necessary formalities will be completed and the family will be provided a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as per government orders in such cases.
The Forest Department has increased patrolling in the area as a precautionary measure, Mobeen Arif added.
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