Leopard suspected in killing of 7-year-old girl captured in Uttar Pradesh

Days after a seven-year-old girl was killed in a leopard attack, the forest department has captured the leopard suspected of killing the child in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, officials said on Sunday.

The leopard was trapped in a cage in Sinhauna village in the Singahi area on Saturday night following a three-day intensive combing operation by forest teams.

The incident occurred on March 25 when Simran (7) was killed in a leopard attack in Sidhauna village located in the buffer zone of Dudhwa National Park . According to officials, the attack took place in the Singahi area under the Belrayan range.

Simran was sitting with her family inside their farmhouse when the leopard suddenly entered the premises, grabbed the girl in its jaws and ran towards nearby agricultural fields. Family members and villagers chased the animal, forcing it to drop the child before escaping into dense sugarcane fields that provide cover for big cats . The girl died on the spot due to severe injuries.

The incident triggered anger and protests among villagers , with the child’s family and local farmers staging demonstrations and refusing to allow the body to be moved for several hours. Residents demanded the immediate capture of the leopard, compensation for the family and fencing along the forest–village boundary .

After negotiations with officials, the family agreed to accept ₹5 lakh compensation as per government norms , and the body was later sent for postmortem.

Forest officials deployed multiple monitoring teams, camera traps and cages with live bait to track the animal’s movement. The leopard was eventually lured into a cage after being monitored through surveillance equipment, said Manoj Tiwari, Sub-Divisional Officer of the Nighasan forest sub-division.

Officials said the captured animal has been taken for a medical examination by veterinary experts of Dudhwa , after which authorities will decide the further course of action regarding its relocation or release .

Following the incident, forest officials have also intensified patrolling and monitoring in the area, which lies close to forest land and sugarcane fields where leopards are often sighted, highlighting the growing human–wildlife conflict around Dudhwa National Park .