Tirupati temple to erect fence after leopard attacks 5-year-old on pedestrian route

A five-year-old boy, who was attacked by a leopard on Thursday (June 22) night in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala, was admitted to a hospital.

According to reports, who quoted the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) vigilance and security wing, a few devotees were eating their dinner near the Hanuman statue at the 7th mile, along the Alipiri-Tirumala pedestrian route in AP. The little boy Kaushik who was playing beside his family had strayed and moved away on his own.

Also read: Gujarat: Leopard mauls 2-yr-old boy to death in Amreli; 3rd incident of attack by felines in 1 week

At that point, suddenly, a leopard attacked Kaushik and tried to drag him away into the Seshachalam forest. However, a bunch of devotees and the Tirupati vigilance guards created a ruckus, threw stones at the leopard, who then got alarmed and dumped the boy and fled.

Police officials took the injured boy to TTD’s BIRRD hospital in Tirupati for treatment and he was given first aid.

Fence building

The TTD, the independent trust that manages the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, on Friday said immediate steps will be taken to build a fence along both sides of the Alipiri and Srivari Mettu footpaths to avert incidents like Thursday night’s leopard attack on a three-year-old boy.

TTD Chairman Y V Subba Reddy made the announcement after meeting the boy from Adoni in Kurnool district, who survived the leopard attack around 10 pm on Thursday night. TTD will immediately take up fencing of the Alipiri and Srivari Mettu footpaths on both sides to ensure such incidents do not occur again, Reddy was quoted as saying in a press release on Friday.

The boy, currently undergoing treatment at the TTD-run Sri Padmavati Children’s Hospital, had suffered serious bite injuries on his neck.