Overview
- The attack occurred Sunday evening in Mategaon village when a leopard pounced on 65-year-old agricultural labourer Tulsi Rama Sawar as she returned from work, and she died at the scene.
- Vangaon police registered an accidental-death case and sent the body for postmortem while witnesses and officials said the leopard fled into nearby forest after the attack.
- This is the second human fatality in about a month in Palghar after a 52-year-old woman was killed in early October and a postmortem then confirmed death by a wild animal.
- Villagers and farmers have threatened to protest if the animal is not captured and are demanding immediate installation of camera traps, cages and a focused capture operation by the forest department.
- Repeated sightings across Palghar since August have raised fear among farm labourers and local leaders warn the unrest could reduce field work and harm the district’s agricultural economy unless detection and capture capacity improves.