Gujarat Man, 60, Kills Leopard with Sickle And Spear To Save Son

In a dramatic "Man vs Wild" encounter in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district, a 60-year-old man killed a leopard with a sickle and spear to save his son after the animal attacked them both.

The incident occurred in the Una area of Gir Somnath on Wednesday evening. Babubhai Naranbhai Vaja was sitting in his house's shed when, under the cover of darkness, a leopard suddenly pounced on him.

Hearing his father's screams, his 27-year-old son, Shardul, immediately rushed out of the room. The leopard then left Babubhai and launched a deadly attack on Shardul. 

Seeing his son in the leopard's jaws, Babubhai attacked the leopard with a spear and a sickle lying near the house and killed it. "When I was sleeping in the shed at night, the leopard came. When I shouted to scare it away, it came towards me and attacked me and grabbed me by the throat. I shouted to call my son," said Babubhai.

"When my son came, the leopard left me and attacked my son. When I tried to rescue my son, the leopard attacked me again. This happened several times. Then I killed the leopard with a sickle and beat it with a stick. After the incident, I informed the Forest Department," he added. 

Both the father and son were seriously injured in the incident and were admitted first to the government hospital in Una and later to a private hospital for further treatment. 

Upon receiving the information, the Forest Department team immediately reached the spot and seized the weapons used in the incident. The leopard's carcass was sent for a post-mortem.

The Forest Department has registered a complaint against Babubhai and Shardul for killing a wild animal and has initiated further investigation.

(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)