Four-year-old boy mauled to death by leopard in Valparai tea estate

A four-year-old boy was dragged from the front of his house and mauled to death by a leopard at a tea estate in Tamil Nadu's Valparai, around 70 km from here, police said today.

The incident took place around 7 pm yesterday when the boy, Babu, was standing near the house after a bath and his mother had gone to bring his clothes, they said.

The police said that when the mother returned, the boy was missing.

She immediately alerted her husband Musharaff Ali, a worker at the estate, and his co-workers. They launched a search for the boy, they said.

Later his body, with the head severed, and bite marks on the neck, was found about a kilometre away from the house. Pug marks of a leopard were also found near the house and the body, police said.

The estate workers have been asked to stay indoors after dark by forest officials, who are taking steps to trace the leopard and trap it, they said.