After Tigress Beaten to Death in UP, Farmer Attacked by It Dies

Photo for representational purposes. 

(Photo: iStock)

A day after the video of villagers in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit brutally beating a tigress to death went viral, a 55-year-old farmer who was injured after being attacked by the tigress, died, reported The Indian Express.

He succumbed to his injuries at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow on Friday, 26 July.

The farmer has been identified as Radhey Shyam, from Mataina village, where the tigress had attacked 10 people on Wednesday and Thursday.

An FIR was lodged against 43 people on Friday after villagers in Pilibhit brutally beat the tigress to death on Thursday, The Times of India reported.

Officials of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve had assured the villagers that the tigress would be driven back to her habitat, reported The New Indian Express.

“The tigress’ age was assessed between 5 and 6 years. She had sustained fractures and injuries from sharp-edged weapons like spears on almost every part of her body. She also had broken ribs. The tigress was cremated after the autopsy.”

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) field director H Rajamohan

The video doing the rounds shows the disturbing assault and has a witness offering commentary in the background.

The officials have registered an FIR against 31 villagers and 12 unknown people, reported The Times of India.

The district magistrate said that a probe has been launched into the incident. "Some of the attackers have been identified, while efforts are on to identify others," Pilibhit DM Vaibhav Srivastava said.

Srivastava has also ordered a magisterial inquiry to probe the role of forest officials in protecting the life of tigress.

The magisterial inquiry will probe whether sincere efforts were actually made at the spot by forest officials to rescue and save the life of injured tigress.

According to the autopsy report, the cause of the 6-year-old tiger's death was due to the injuries inflicted by the villagers.

Regarding the incident, former field director of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve GC Misra was quoted by IANS as saying, "The tigress could have been rescued and given timely medical aid as the forest officials had reached the spot. But their inability to rescue the injured big cat in a span of over nine hours undoubtedly reflects their inability in protecting wildlife in adverse situations."

16 Tiger Deaths in Pilibhit Since 2012

The Pilibhit district and Pilibhit Tiger Reserve have witnessed deaths of as many as 16 tigers and 3 leopards within the jungle and its surroundings since 2012.

Most of the deaths were caused by poisoning, snaring, affliction with contagious ailments like canine distemper, while only a few were due to infighting.

However, Wednesday’s incident was the first in which an adult tigress was beaten to death by villagers in the district.

(With inputs from IANS, NDTV, The New Indian Express and The Times of India.)