In an unprecedented incident, a 21-year-old woman from Bhandara district of Maharashtra fought off a ‘tiger’ with a stick and…
Rupali Meshram (Facebook/Rupali Meshra)
In an unprecedented incident, a 21-year-old woman from Bhandara district of Maharashtra fought off a ‘tiger’ with a stick and survived to tell the tale on social media. Forest officials said the animal could be a leopard and not tiger.
As per media reports, the incident took place on 24 March, however, it was reported only earlier this week.
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The 21-year-old, Rupali Meshram, took to Facebook to share her ordeal, in which she stated that she was attacked by a tiger, when she heard her goats bleating and had gone out to investigate.
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In her Facebook post, she claimed that she fought off the tiger with a stick and was rescued by her mother, who also suffered injuries. Meshram’s mother was able to drag her inside and close the door.
Meshram said that she is currently admitted to the hospital, while adding that the purpose of her post was to get noticed by the forest officials, as she is claiming compensation from the department.
Forest department intervenes
The forest department was alerted by Meshram’s uncle. Forest officials shifted Rupali to a hospital in Bhandara and later to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur.
Rupali, a commerce graduate living in Usgaon village of Bhandara, received injuries on her head, legs and waist.
However, her claims of the animal being a tiger is being contested by the forest department.
Vivek Hoshind, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bhandara, refuted Rupali’s claim that it was a tiger which attacked her.
“Pug marks of a leopard were found in the vicinity. Besides, there was no tiger movement recorded in that area,” he said.
Hoshind also said that the department paid Rs 12,000 to Rupali, and further compensation would be awarded once all formalities such as obtaining doctor’s certificate are completed.
However, Rupali has complained that other than reimbursement of expenses of treatment at Bhandara, she didn’t get any financial help from the forest department. Her mother sold off some jewellery to raise money for the treatment, she said.
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