Woman fights off leopard as she sits on porch in Mumbai

Woman fights off leopard with her walking stick after the big cat sneaks up behind her as she sits on porch in Mumbai

  • Nirmaladevi Singh, 55, was sitting outside her home in suburb of Mumbai, India
  • CCTV footage shows leopard appear out of darkness behind her and attack her
  • But terrified woman fights back with her walking stick before animal scarpers
  • She was left with several deep cuts but police said she was not seriously injured 

This is the terrifying moment a woman fended off a leopard with her walking stick when it attacked her outside her own home.

Nirmaladevi Singh, 55, was sitting outside in the Aarey Colony suburb of Mumbai, India, on Wednesday evening, when the leopard pounced.

CCTV footage shows the leopard’s eyes glistening in the darkness as it sneaks out of the bushes behind Mrs Singh and attack the unsuspecting woman.

The big catcatches the woman off guard and pushes her to the ground with a powerful claw as she shouts out for help.

This is the terrifying moment a woman fought off a leopard with her walking stick after the animal attacked her from behind outside her Mumbai, India home

Desperate to fend off the leopard, she grabs her walking stick and strikes it as it tries to maul her several times.  

After taking a hit to the face the leopard jumps away before scarpering into the bushes as help arrives for the woman.

Ms Singh sustained cuts to her face, elbow, arm, back and leg in the attack, but none of the injuries are thought to be serious. Officials have reported that she is safe and undergoing treatment.

According to the Times of India, the incident is the third leopard attack in a week in the Aarey Colony – a residential area north of Mumbai that neighbours open forest.

Nirmaladevi Singh, 55, was sitting outside on Wednesday evening when the bright eyes of a leopard appeared out of the darkness

Gajanan Hire, of the Thane Forest Division which oversees Aarey Colony, said the claw marks on the woman indicated that the attack was carried out by a sub-adult leopard.

‘Immediately after the first attack was reported over a month ago, we sought permission from the principal chief conservator of forests to trap the animal,’ he said.

‘There is a protocol to be followed before we can lay the trap and which is being done.’

Desperate to fend off the leopard, she grabs her walking stick and strikes it as it tries to maul her several times. After taking a hit to the face the leopard jumps away before scarpering into the bushes as help arrives for the woman

In the meantime, the forest department has installed around ten camera traps in the vicinity of the areas where the recent attacks have taken place.

‘We have ordered for more camera traps so as to ascertain whether it is one sub adult or more,’ he said.

Aarey forest is one of the greenest areas in Mumbai, but wildlife habitats are reportedly being threatened by construction work and tree cutting.

This has led to several recent incidents of leopards straying into residential areas.

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