The tiger has been spotted roaming in the area for sometime now. (Representational)
A tiger mauled a nine-year-old girl to death in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, a forest department official said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred under the Jaisinghnagar forest range on Tuesday when the girl was playing and her family members were busy working in agricultural fields, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Gaurav Choudhary said.
At around 2.30 pm, a tiger suddenly appeared from a nearby forest at the place where the girl was playing and attacked her, causing fatal injuries to her neck and waist, he said.
After local residents raised an alarm, the wild animal returned to the forest leaving the body behind, the official said.
Mr Choudhary said the body was handed over to her family members after a post-mortem.
The DFO said the victim's family will be given financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh by the forest department.
The tiger has been spotted roaming in the area for sometime now, but this was the first attack on a human being by the big cat, he said.
Mr Choudhary said cameras have been installed to track the movement of the tiger and patrolling has been stepped up in the area by the forest department.
Three tiger reserves are located in districts which border Shahdol.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)