Victim caught by his nape; dragged into the forest

Mysuru: – A person, who strolled out of his house after waking up, was killed by a tiger in H.D. Kote this morning. He was dragged into the forest and the feline had eaten some of his body parts. This is the second such incident at H.D. Kote and in the first incident, a tiger had mauled a youth to death on Dec.23, 2018.

The latest incident was reported from Hullumutlu Village near D.B. Kuppe Range of Nagarahole National Park where 39-year-old Chinnappa, son of Devesegowda was killed.

According to reports, Chinnappa ventured out of his house at 7 am today and was standing outside when the tiger pounced on him. Another report said that Chinnappa was warming himself with some fire in front of his house when the feline attacked him.

Chinnappa was caught by the back of his neck (nape) and that part bore a couple of two-to-three-inch deep wounds caused by the animal’s canines. The feline dragged Chinnappa to over 300 metres inside the forests and consumed some of his body parts. The Hullumutlu Village forest adjoins Manandavadi Road and there are over 150 houses. Unlike other tribal hamlets that are clusters of houses, this particular village has houses that are spread over a vast acreage.

Chinnappa leaves behind wife Devika, daughter Mariyamma, 13 and son Prashanth, 9. Chinnappa’s brother Swamy’s house is located 30 metres from the incident spot. Following the attack, Chinnappa screamed and this alerted his family members who rushed to the rescue.

The feline, however, dragged the victim into the forests with brute strength. Hearing the screams, villagers rushed and followed the tiger only to see blood-ridden Chinnappa’s body. Hearing human voices, the tiger had abandoned the body.

Villagers said that on Dec.23, 2018, Madhu, a 28-year-old tribal youth, who had gone to the forest to collect firewood, was killed by a tiger in Manimoole Haadi, a hamlet in H.D. Kote. The villagers and family members have demanded the Forest Department to give compensation to Chinnappa’s family and capture the tiger.

The distance between Manimoole and Hullumutlu Village is five kilometres and villagers suspect that the same tiger might have attacked both Madhu and Chinnappa.

Villagers alleged that they were living under constant threat of tigers and still, the Forest Department has not taken any measures to at least mitigate the wild animal menace.

The village borders the Nagarahole National Park and there is no fencing or trenches that bifurcate them. Most of the villagers are from hunter community and they venture into the jungles to collect forest produce.

As the Forest Department books poaching cases, these communities do not hunt animals. Director of Project Tiger, Nagarahole National Park Narayana Swamy and other officials visited the spot.