Couple rescues their son from leopard on prowl

Showing exemplary grit, a sugarcane worker and her husband from Maharashtra fended off a leopard which tried to drag their toddler son away in the dead of night. The incident occurred Thursday night in Dholwad village in Junnar taluka of Pune district when the couple and their 18-month-old son were sleeping near a sugarcane field.

"While we were sleeping, a leopard grabbed my son Dnyaneshwar at his head and started dragging him. Sensing the movement, I and my husband woke up and tried to rescue our son," said the toddler's mother Deepali Mali. While Deepali kept holding the legs of her son, her husband Dilip raised an alarm and started hitting the big cat.

The animal tried to bite Deepali but she held on, Dilip said. "My husband raised an alarm and started hitting the leopard. Meanwhile, people from vicinity rushed to our help, following which the big cat fled," Deepali said.

Dnyaneshwar suffered injuries on his face and an eye in the attack. "He is recuperating at the hospital," she said.