TEAM HERALD
BELGAUM: The tiger which has been tormenting villagers of Madgai and surrounding villages in the forests bordering Khanapur and Goa is reported to have mauled to death a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Madgai on Wednesday evening.
Residents of Madgai and surrounding villages protested on Thursday by refusing to perform the last rites, until the tiger is hunted down by forest authorities.
The tiger is reported to have killed Anjana Appanna Hanbar of Madgai village of Khanapur taluka on Wednesday evening, while people were harvesting their crops, according to information from the forest department.
The villagers claimed that the body of the deceased woman was found in the paws of the tiger. About 500 villagers who had gathered in the forests said the tiger managed to escape in the darkness on Wednesday night.
The angry villagers from Madgai and surrounding areas staged a protest on Thursday by refusing to perform the last rites of Anjana until the tiger was killed. The protest was led by Khanapur MLA Arvind Patil.
Forest department officials informed the villagers that the government had issued a ‘shoot at sight’ order for the tiger and expressed that the wild cat would be hunted down soon. However, the villagers said they would withdraw the agitation only after the tiger is killed.
With the situation becoming tense, Chikkodi MP Prakash Hukkeri rushed to the spot and pacified the villagers. He assured them that all measures would be taken by the government to ensure that the tiger menace ends at their place.
Following Hukkeri’s intervention, the post-mortem was allowed and the last rites were performed.
While forest authorities have declared a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased woman, tension prevails in the region over the menace created by the man eater.
