Panther kills girl in Rajasthan

Jaipur, April 23 (IANS) A panther mauled to death a seven-year old girl in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district, police said Monday.

Her body was found Monday morning in the dense forest area near Arawali hills in Nathdwara area of the district, some 300 km from Jaipur.

"The girl, Kesar, had disappeared late Sunday evening while she was playing outside her house in Gatada village in the forest area," a police officer told IANS.

He added that her parents searched her throughout the night. "However, they found some blood stains on the way leading into the forest. The villagers followed the stains and found the girl's body about a kilometer from the house," said the officer.

The fact that the girl was attacked by a panther was confirmed by the injury marks on the her body and pug marks near the spot, police said.

"It seems the panther had dragged the girl into the forest and then mauled her to death. The postmortem of the girl's body has been conducted. A team of forest department is trying to track down the panther," said the officer.