Meet HT Special awardee Sunita who fought with leopard

Going by her lean frame, no one can make out that this woman from Bahraich could have given a tough fight to a leopard. She fought with a leopard for about 20 minutes to save her daughter.

Meet Sunita, a resident of Rajaram Tand Karikot village adjacent to Katarniyaghat wildlife sanctuary (KWS) in Bahraich. Sunita was awarded HT Special Award for her extraordinary courage during the recently concluded HT Woman Award 2018.

Recalling the incident, Sunita says, “I was in the house with my three children on October 16, 2011. My husband had gone out of the village for some work.”

At around 8 pm, while Sunita was serving dinner to her children when a leopard from KWS sneaked into the village and attacked her daughter Laxmi, 10, who had gone in the courtyard to wash her hands.

Hearing her daughter’s scream, Sunita came out and confronted the leopard with a stick.

“Humko dar zara bhi nahi laga. Mujhe sirf apni beti ko bachana tha chahe usme jaan bhi chale jati (I did not feel afraid for a moment. The only thing in my mind was to save my daughter even if I would have lost my life,” says Sunita.

The leopard had clutched her daughter’s shoulder and was dragging her towards the jungle.

“I continued to attack the animal. After about 20 minutes, I succeeded in saving my daughter,” she says.

Sunita and her daughter suffered grievous injuries in the incident. Soon, she became famous in the area and people from nearby villages started coming to meet her.

“I could have even fought with Yamraj (the god of death) to save my daughter. I am very lucky to have Laxmi as my daughter.

All the fame and award that I am receiving is because of my daughter,” she says, adding that fear is nothing but a state of mind.

“My daughter Laxmi passed her intermediate examination in first division the same day HT awarded me (April 29). It is my dream to educate my daughter so that she can become self-dependent and serve the society,” Sunita says.

“As we live close to the jungle, we are used to spotting animals, including leopard. After the incident, I am no longer afraid of going out. I don’t fear any animal or human being,” she says.

The state government also acknowledged her bravery. On March 29, 2018, chief minister Yogi Adityanath honoured her with Rani Laxmi Bai bravery award in Lucknow.

Sunita is not only a brave mother but is also working for the cause of women. She works as a sanitation employee and a master trainer for open defecation-free (ODF) drive of the central government.

“I motivate people to use toilets and inform them about the ill-effects of open defecation. Laxmi is my only girl child and I love her more than my sons,” she says.

Sunita also encourages girls in the area to get educated and deal with any situation with courage. She was warmly welcomed by villagers and relatives when she returned home after bagging the HT Special Award. Villagers praised Sunita for her courage and social service.