Tiger kills four women collecting tendu leaves in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur

Four women collecting tendu leaves in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district were mauled to death by a tiger in a forested patch near Gunjewahi village on Friday morning.

Four women collecting tendu leaves were mauled to death by a tiger in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Friday morning, a forest official said.

The incident occurred near Gunjewahi village in Sindewahi tehsil, nearly 70 km from the district headquarters, said the official.

A group of women had gone to a forested patch to collect tendu leaves, which are predominantly used as the natural wrapper for 'bidis' (hand-rolled cigarettes). As they were busy collecting the leaves, a tiger killed four of them, said officials.

The deceased women have been identified as Kawadabai Mohurle (45), Anitabai Mohurle (40), Sunita Mohurle (38) and Sangita Chaudhary (50), all residents of Gunjewahi.

It was not immediately clear whether the wild cat killed all the women at the same spot and time or at different spots.

After being alerted, a team of forest officials reached the area, said Chief Conservator of Forests (Chandrapur Circle) R M Ramanujan, adding that more details would emerge after the 'panchnama'.