Pune: A 60-year-old woman was found dead in Chincholi village of Junnar taluka, about 87 km from Pune, in the early hours of Tuesday. While villagers suspected she was attacked by a leopard, forest officials said the cause of death can only be ascertained after a postmortem report.The deceased, identified as Seetabai alias Dhamabai Jadhav, was living alone in her house and stepped out around 10pm on Monday. When she did not return, her relatives searched nearby areas, but failed to trace her and assumed she went to another family house, located around 1.5 km away. Her body was later found around 6am on the village road, with injury marks.The victim’s family said she was mentally ill and frequently moved between the two houses. Her husband, Baban Jadhav, said, “I was at our other residence, about 1.5 km away, when I was informed in the morning that villagers found her lying on the main road, barely 50 metres from the house she left the previous night.”Khandu Kashid, the sarpanch of Chincholi, said a leopard was sighted in the area and several cattle were also attacked a day before the incident. “At least 10 cattle have died in leopard attacks in our village in the last three days. The animal was even spotted on the day of the incident in the evening by some villagers, hence we suspect that the woman must have died of a leopard attack,” he said.Prashant Khade, deputy conservator of forests (Junnar division), said that the woman’s death may not have been caused by a leopard attack, but they are still waiting for the postmortem report. “Prima facie, it does not appear to be a leopard attack, but only a detailed postmortem report will confirm the exact cause of death,” Khade told TOI after visiting the spot.He added that while there were injuries on the woman’s body, forest staffers did not find the typical neck injuries that are usually found in such cases. Khade confirmed that leopards are present in the area and they were sighted in the area recently. “Based on the recommendation of the sarpanch and villagers, we have already installed two cages in the vicinity to capture the leopard,” he said.
