Woman killed by tiger while picking cotton balls in Asifabad

Adilabad: A woman was killed allegedly by a tiger at a cotton farm on the outskirts of Nazrulnagar village in Kagaznagar early on Friday morning. It was the fourth incident reported in the district since 2000.

Sources said that Morle Laxmi (21) from Gannaram village died on the spot after a tiger attacked her while she was picking cotton balls in a farm on the outskirts of Nazrulnagar at around 8 am.

The tiger fled the spot when her colleagues raised an alarm. They informed her family members and locals who in turn communicated about the incident to forest officials.

The officials rushed to the spot and inspected pug marks of the tiger. Samples of injuries would be sent to the forensic lab to ascertain the cause of



the death, they said.

Meanwhile, parents and relatives staged a dharna in front of the Forest Divisional Officer carrying the body of Laxmi seeking justice demanding compensation. They said that they were afraid of harvesting the crop following the movement of the tigers in agriculture fields. Forest officials began consultations with the agitators.

Officials said that around nine tigers were residing in the forests of the district. A tiger moving in the forests of Kaghaznagar division killed the woman. Despite cautions, farmers are harvesting the cotton crop in the early morning and are confronting the tigers roaming in the agriculture fields, resulting in man-animal conflict, the officials stated.