55 Year Old Indian Woman Fights Off Leopard With Walking Stick

Fifty-five-year-old Nirmaladevi Singh was sitting outside her home in Maharashtra, north India, relaxing on her balcony completely unaware the big cat was approaching.

The footage shows the leopard prowling around the outside of the property before moving towards Singh.

Singh can be seen turning around just at the last minute as the leopard leaps towards her.

The woman tumbles to the ground but brandishes her walking stick which she then uses to whack the leopard in an attempt to fight it off.

The leopard continues to claw at Singh but eventually backs off, before people rush to her aid.

Singh suffered scratch marks to her face, elbow, arm, back and leg, but thankfully her injuries were minor.

The incident was the second leopard attack in that area in the last three days, prompting the forest department to install 10 CCTV cameras.

On 26 September a four-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard in Maharashtra, but was fortunately saved by his uncle.

Ayush Yadav was playing outside his home when the animal pounced on him, seeing the attack his uncle Vinod Kumar Yadav sprung into action.

"It had grabbed Ayush from his head and was running towards the forest. He grabbed Ayush from his neck.

"On seeing this, I screamed and ran behind the leopard. Then the leopard grabbed Ayush from his head and started running towards the forest.

"Luckily, while running, he lost his grip and I jumped on Ayush and grabbed him."

Ayush sustained injuries to his neck and had to receive eight stitches to his head.

Locals told the news outlet the attack had left them scared to go outside.

His mum Aarti said: "We are all very scared. We keep children at home and are hoping that the leopard is caught soon.

"I am thankful to God that my boy is safe. We need street lights in the vicinity to spot the leopard."