Maharashtra: Women killed by tiger, 50 dead in Chandrapur this year by big cat attacks

A 50-year old woman was mauled to death by a tiger in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district at afternoon, a forest department official said. Swaroopa Teletiwar was killed when she was plucking cotton in a field near Khadi village in Saoli range, some 60 kilometres from here, Chief Conservator of Forests Prakash Lonkar said.

In all, 50 persons have died this year in the district in attacks by big cats, another official said. Forty-four of the attacks were by tigers and six by leopards, he said.

Earlier, Baburao Kamble, a 65-year-old farmer, was killed in Rudrapur vilage in Saoli tehsil while he was on his way to his farm on Wednesday morning.

The tiger dragged him into the forest even as some local people raised alarm. Forest officials later found his body. An initial compensation of Rs 25,000 was paid to Kamble's family following autopsy, said Prakash Lonkar, Chief Conservator of Forest, Chandrapur Circle.