Udaipur, March 21, 2025 – In a shocking incident yesterday, a young man was attacked and killed by a leopard in the Jawai Leopard Conservation Reserve. The incident occurred at 3:00 pm, 100 metres below the cave on the hill of Hawa Mahal near the Jawai Dam. Here, Bhola Ram (27), a resident of Balwana who was grazing his herd, became the leopard's first victim in this area.

The leopard attacked the man inflicting deep wounds on his neck and causing excessive bleeding. Within eight minutes, a team from the Forest Department, led by Range Officer Jitendra Meena, arrived on the scene. They injured youth was taken to Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital where doctors declared him dead. The body was later kept at the government hospital in Sumerpur. Police Inspector Ravindra Singh Khinchi also reached the hospital.

This is the first such incident in the Jawai region, and it caused much panic among the local people.

However, the Forest Department managed to capture the leopard in just four hours. By around 7:00 pm the leopard was trapped in a cage kept at the attack spot with a goat in it as bait.

After the incident, people from the Devasis community staged a protest at the hospital. Former Panchayat Samiti member Lalaram Devasi said that the Jawai Conservation area has tourists moving around in jeep safaris all day long, with 250-300 jeeps disrupting the natural habits of wildlife. The growing number of hotels and resorts in the area has forced wildlife to come closer to villages and roads, making it difficult for residents and livestock keepers to lead their lives, the residents protested.

The victim's family has demanded Rs 50 lakh as compensation and a government job saying he was from a poor family. He has one child and his wife is pregnant.

Source: Media Reports