Leopard Attack in Shirur: 5-Year-Old Girl Killed While Fetching Water in Pimparkhed
A 5-year-old girl was fatally mauled by a leopard near her home in Pimparkhed, Shirur taluka. Forest authorities initiate capture measures amid rising conflict.
Pune, October 13, 2025: A tragic incident has left a village in Shirur taluka reeling after a leopard attack claimed the life of a five-year-old girl in broad daylight. The child, identified as Shivanya Nilesh Bombe, was attacked while walking to fetch water for her grandfather, around 300 metres from their home in Pimparkhed village.
According to witnesses, the leopard — hiding in adjacent sugarcane fields — leapt at the girl, inflicting grievous injuries to her neck and hand. Her grandfather, working in the field nearby, ran to intervene and managed to free her from its grasp, but the child succumbed before medical help could arrive. She was declared dead on arrival at Manchar Civil Hospital.
Villagers said they had observed leopard activity in the area earlier — including a recent cattle kill and the family’s pet dog being attacked about two weeks ago. In response, forest officials have already moved to set up trap cages and camera traps, and a base camp has been established close to the site of the attack. Swab samples from the body are being collected for forensic analysis.
This marks at least the third fatal leopard incident in Pune district in 2025, following the deaths of a six-year-old boy in Junnar and an elderly woman in Shirur’s Inamgaon. In total, the district has registered nine deaths and nine injuries from human-leopard conflicts in the past year. The trend underlines increasing tension between wildlife and expanding human settlements.
Local leaders and residents are demanding urgent action — including leopard sterilization, relocation, and stronger mitigation strategies. Forest officials say the capture operation is underway, but they also emphasize the need for community awareness, secured livestock enclosures, and reduced human movement in dense field zones during dawn and dusk.
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