A 'man-eater' tiger prowling around the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border between Wayanad and Nilgiris districts killed a 30-year-old woman today, believed to be its second prey within a week.
The incident sparked protests in the area with people demanding that authorities issue orders to shoot dead the 'man-eater'. They blocked traffic on Sulthan Bathery-Ooty road for a while.
Wildlife and police officials said Mahalakshmi, a tea estate worker at Pattavayal, about 90 km from Udhagamandalam, was plucking tea leaves when the tiger pounced on her from a bush, caught her by neck and dragged her for some distance.
As the other estate workers raised an alarm, the carnivore left her and ran back into the nearby jungle, they said.
However, the woman, who suffered deep injuries, died on the spot.
A farmer was mauled to death by a tiger at nearby Noolpuzha on Kerala side a few days back. Wildlife guards believe that the same tiger had killed the woman.
After the farmer's death, the Wildlife department had installed camera traps in the area but had failed to get any image of the big cat. Also, efforts to lure the tiger into a trap and move it to the zoo also failed.
