An eight-year-old boy from Bengaluru was killed in a suspected leopard attack while accompanying his family on a pilgrimage trek near Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Karnataka.
The boy, identified as Harshith, was walking along the Nagamale route during a padayatra when the animal attacked at around 7 am, officials said.
According to eyewitnesses and forest officials, the family was moving through a forested stretch when the leopard emerged suddenly from nearby bushes, pounced on the child and dragged him into the forest before relatives could react.
Forest department personnel, joined by local villagers, launched a search operation soon after the incident. Harshith's body was later recovered from deep inside the forest area.
The attack has heightened anxiety among devotees visiting Male Mahadeshwara Hills, a major pilgrimage centre that attracts thousands of visitors, many of whom travel by foot through forest routes surrounding the shrine.
The latest death has also triggered criticism of the Forest Department from residents and pilgrims, who accused authorities of failing to act despite earlier leopard attacks in the region.
