Angry villagers beat Tigress to death with sticks in Pilibhit reserve, make video

Pilibhit, July 26: Irate villagers beat a Tigress to death that injured nine persons in Mataina village in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district. The incident comes as a brazen reminder of the escalating man-animal conflict in various parts of India.

The assault on the tigress was also captured in a mobile phone by a local of Matena village in Puranpur tehsil. The two-minute video of the assault of the tiger by the villagers has a background commentary by a witness who said they were assaulting the animal because she had attacked and injured a villager.

The tigress was about six years old and she died of broken ribs and injuries to her body. The autopsy of the dead tigress confirmed that the cause of death were the injuries inflicted upon her by the villagers.

The foresters have lodged an FIR against 31 named and 12 unidentified people. Post mortem report showed that most of her ribs were fractured. The bones of her legs were broken and the entire body was riddled with stab wounds made by spears.

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve field director H Rajamohan told news agency IANS: "She had sustained fractures and injuries from sharp-edged weapons like spears on almost every part of her body. She also had broken ribs."

Reports suggest that a forest department team reached the spot right after the assault but angry villagers even assaulted them and did not let the tigress be taken to hospital, till she died.