COIMBATORE: A five-year-old boy suffered serious injuries after a leopard pounced on him while he was playing outside his house in a residential settlement for estate workers in Valparai on Thursday.

The boy, identified as Theerchithan, studying in Class I, was playing outside his house at Upper Parala Estate when a leopard emerged from the thicket and pounced on the boy. It bit him on the head and attempted to drag him away, said a forest department staff.

Shocked at the sight of the attack, the boy's mother, Nagajothi and another estate worker raised an alarm and rushed to his rescue. The leopard then let off the boy and fled into the bush.

The boy sustained deep injuries to his head and was rushed to the estate hospital. After administering first aid, he was taken to the Valparai Government Hospital and then shifted to a private hospital in Coimbatore for further treatment.

Officials of the forest department and education department visited the Valparai GH and consoled the boy’s parents. A team of forest department staff have been deployed in the area to monitor the movement of the leopard.

The forest department asked the estate workers to be vigilant and not let children play outside unattended. The estate authorities have also been instructed to clear overgrown bushes surrounding the workers' residential area.