Tiger kills five-year-old Moksh Burde in Bhandara's Donad on Diwali, drags him 200 metres

A five-year-old boy lost his life to a tiger in Donad village of Lakhandur tehsil in Bhandara district on Thursday, November 5, even as the region was marking Diwali. The victim has been identified as Moksh Burde. He had gone to the family's field with his parents when the big cat struck without warning, in full view of them.

Moksh's father, Sachin Dayaram Burde (45), is a farmer in Donad. That afternoon he and his wife, Sonali, were in their field to bundle and stack the paddy sheaves. The monsoon crop had already been harvested, and the work that follows was on. Because schools were shut for the Diwali holiday, their daughter Nakshatra (10) and Moksh walked over to join them at around 3 pm.

A tiger had been hiding in the field. It leapt at Moksh, gripped him in its jaws and pulled him away. Before the family could grasp what was happening, the animal had carried the child about 200 metres.

Sachin raised an alarm as he saw his son being taken. Farmers working in neighbouring plots heard the shouts and ran towards the spot. By the time they got there, the tiger had inflicted grievous wounds on the boy. His body was found a little distance away. The animal had held him by the throat, which caused fatal injuries.

The house that was meant to glow with Diwali lamps that evening was plunged into grief instead, and the whole village is now in mourning.

Officials of the Lakhandur forest range office and a police team reached Donad after being informed. A panchnama was drawn up in the presence of Police Patil Bharti Ramlal Nagose and Sarpanch Shivdas Burde. The body was afterwards sent for post-mortem.

The killing has spread fear through Donad and the villages around it. Farmers and their families say their lives are at risk each time they step into the fields, and the long-running problem of wild animal attacks in the area has come up again. Villagers want the authorities to act at once against the tiger and to put firm measures in place to keep people safe. They have also asked the government to give the Burde family generous financial assistance.