Bhopal– In a tragic incident near the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh’s Umaria district, a 40-year-old woman was killed by a tigress on Friday morning, forest officials confirmed.
The victim, Galli Bai Yadav of Rakhi village, was attacked while relieving herself near a drainage area close to the forest boundary. The tigress, reportedly hiding in nearby bushes, pounced from behind, killing her instantly.
The incident occurred in the Manpur buffer zone, which borders the reserve’s core area. Forest officials say Rakhi village lies just 1.5 kilometers from the core zone, making it vulnerable to such encounters.
“This is the first such incident reported from Rakhi village,” said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests L. Krishnamoorthy. “At this time, there are no plans to relocate the tigress, as the location is not considered part of her usual territory.”
According to a local forest officer, the tigress leaped over the woman, suggesting the attack was not predatory in nature. The woman’s body bore no signs of consumption or mauling, leading officials to believe the tigress did not intend to hunt.
Yadav’s body was sent to the Community Health Centre in Manpur for a post-mortem. Her family has been given ₹10,000 as immediate relief, with additional compensation to follow under state government provisions.
The death highlights ongoing concerns about human-wildlife conflict in and around Bandhavgarh. Just days earlier, a bear attacked a young man collecting firewood, leaving him seriously injured. He remains hospitalized in Shahdol.
This latest fatality also casts a spotlight on the district’s sanitation infrastructure. Despite official claims that Umaria is nearly Open Defecation-Free, many residents continue to practice open defecation—either from habit or due to the lack of functioning toilets. This practice often brings villagers dangerously close to forested areas, increasing the risk of encounters with wild animals.
The tigress attack is the latest in a troubling series of fatal incidents involving tigers in the region. On April 12, 14-year-old Vijay was killed by a tiger in the Dhamokhar forest, her body later found in a drain. On April 2, Rani Singh, 25, of Kothiya village, was fatally mauled while collecting mahua flowers in the Panpatha core zone. And on March 23, a 50-year-old shepherd was killed by a tigress while grazing cattle in the Uttar Paljha area of the Panpatha buffer zone. (Source: IANS)
