A heartbreaking incident has been reported from Chaturi village of Khambha taluka of Amreli district, bordering Gir in Gujarat. On the night of 24th June, 5-year-old Gian Devkumbhai was going to give milk directly to his grandfather. Suddenly, a lioness attacked from the darkness and dragged the child towards the forest in front of the grandfather. Hearing the grandfather’s screams, the villagers immediately rushed to the spot, but the child could not be saved.
Soon after, the villagers went out in search of the child with sticks. Before the forest department officials arrived, some youths even tried to rescue the child from the lioness. However, Jian’s bloody body was found about a kilometre away from the village.
After the incident, a convoy of the forest department, including DCF Vikas Yadav and ACF Kapil Bhatia of Dhari Gir East, reached the spot. The body of the child was shifted to Khambha Hospital for postmortem. The forest department had launched a mega operation to catch the attacking lioness.
During the operation that lasted for about nine hours, five lions were caged, of which one lioness was tranquillised and brought under control. During the investigation, the forest department has also said that the remains of a child were found in the vomit of a male lion, which has been sent for investigation.
Meanwhile, locals allege that such accidents are happening frequently due to the negligence of the forest department. The maternal uncle of the deceased has demanded a permanent forest guard, a forest department office and more security arrangements in the village. He has also demanded that the forest minister visit the village and assure the people of security. It is worth noting that this is the third serious incident of lion attack in Amreli district in the past one month alone.
