‘We are having sleepless nights, everyone is scared’

Over the past fortnight, a panther has mauled four villagers to death near the Sariska forest area in Rajasthan's Alwar district. The forest department has issued shoot-at-sight orders and pressed over 150 personnel into action, apart from dog squads, a drone and 20 trap cameras. Rakesh Meena (left), a member of the ‘youth committee’ in Silibavdi, where two of the four victims were killed, has been helping forest officials and reassuring residents What is the situation in the villages near the Sariska forest area? About 20 villages in the area are affected and the residents are terrified. In the Silibavdi gram panchayat area (Thanagazi block), no one ventures outside after sunset. Shops shut early too. The daily power cut between 7 pm and 8.30 pm has made matters worse. Officials have told us that the panther is most active at night. Have such attacks happened in the past? Two people were killed last year, following which officials caught two panthers in November 2016. It was all fine the last two months but now... We heard that the panthers caught last year were relocated in our region. (Officials say the panthers were relocated about 40 km away from the villages). What are the villagers doing to protect themselves? No one owns a gun here, all we have are sticks and we keep them with us all the time. When we go to work in our fields — I grow mustard and wheat — we step out in groups of 5-7 armed with lathis. Also, 30 per cent of the homes here are kuchcha and people living in them are the most scared. One of the victims was dragged out of her house by the panther. Unlike cities, there are no high walls in villages... it is all open.

The government says it has taken several steps to catch the panther. I don’t think they are enough. Shanti Devi was attacked by the panther on the morning of February 12, but forest and police officials took several hours to reach the spot. The villagers were very angry, someone even hurled a stone at the head constable of the Quick Response Team. The same evening 55-year-old Ram Kanvar Meena was mauled to death. I hope the panther is caught soon. We have been having sleepless nights, and everyone is scared for their lives.

What about the panchayat, has it done anything? Several ‘youth committees’, with five members each, have been formed, and I am a part of one of them. We have been asked to help forest officials and allay the fears of the villagers. We have been visiting homes, asking villagers to maintain calm, but most of them lose their cool and tell us to find the panther instead of conducting such drives. HAMZA KHAN