Mysore/Mysuru: Recounting the tense moments following the rescue, homeowner Sujatha Suresh described how a routine morning turned into a life-threatening situation at her Siddarthanagar residence. “We usually keep the front door shut. Yesterday morning, it was open for barely five minutes and we had no idea a leopard had entered,” she said.

According to Sujatha, the presence of the animal came to light when the domestic worker entered the room to clear garbage and noticed something lying under the bed where her mother-in-law was resting.

“At first, I thought it was a doll. But when I looked again, I realised it was a leopard,” she said.

Sujatha said, she immediately lifted her bedridden mother-in-law and carried her out of the room. “I stumbled while coming out, but managed to move her to safety,” she said. She then returned to check and, on seeing the leopard move its head, quickly shut the door, confining it inside. Her husband alerted Forest officials.

“Initially, they thought it might be a cat. But I insisted it was a leopard. Only after they recorded a video under the bed using a mobile phone tied to a stick did they believe me,” she said. Sujatha said, she acted without hesitation. “I wasn’t afraid. I knew I had to save a life,”  she added.

Elderly lady stays calm

Shailaja Rudrappa, the elderly mother of Suresh, recalled the incident with striking composure. “I didn’t know a leopard had entered the room,” she said. “It was only when my daughter-in-law Sujatha carried me out that she told me there was a leopard under the bed.”

Despite the proximity to danger, Shailaja said, she remained calm. “I felt no fear or panic. With my son and daughter-in-law beside me, I had courage,” she added. A resident of Siddarthanagar for 35 years, she said this was her first such encounter. “Never in all these years had I seen a leopard. This was the first time,” she said.