BAHRAICH, UTTAR PRADESH: In separate incidents that took place within 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich, two minors were rescued by their parents from leopard attacks. In one instance, three-year-old Salman from Jailha village was attacked by a leopard on Wednesday night while he was lying on a cot alongside his other siblings. His father, Kunnu, was able to drive away the predator with a stick after he heard the cries of his children. The child, who sustained some injuries in the attack, was taken to the Mihinpurwa Community Health Centre for treatment. A day prior to this, on Tuesday night, four-year-old Ayaan was lying alongside his mother Kismatun in the Ayodhya Purva village when a leopard entered the house and attacked him. 

Reacting to the commotion, the child's mother attacked the leopard barehanded and managed to drive away the animal. Later, her son was admitted to the Bahraich Medical College for treatment. 

The condition of both children has presently been reported as being stable.  

Divisional Forest Officer B. Shivshankar told PTI on Friday, "The villages where these incidents occurred are around 30 km apart. Round-the-clock surveillance is being done by deploying forest personnel in both the villages and the surrounding areas to avoid such encounters." He said that if such an incident is repeated in the affected area or an attacking leopard is seen again, a cage trap will be installed to catch it.

With inputs from PTI.