Bettiah: A 37-year-old woman was mauled to death by a tiger while she was collecting fodder near the periphery of a forest in Naurangia area of West Champaran district on Wednesday. This is the fourth fatal tiger attack in Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) region since July this year, said forest officials.According to the officials, the victim, Salma Khatoon of Sirisia village, had gone to Masjidia Sareh area to collect fodder when the tiger, believed to have been hiding nearby, attacked her near Sirisia village under Naurangia police station area. She died on the spot. Forest officials from Madanpur range and Naurangia police reached the site and sent the body to the sub-divisional hospital in Bagaha for post-mortem.News of the incident spread quickly, drawing a large number of residents to the spot. Many demanded immediate steps to ensure their safety and urged the forest department to capture the tiger.Madanpur range officer Naseem Ahmed said the tiger emerged from the forest, attacked the woman and retreated into the jungle. He said compensation proceedings would be initiated after due inquiry and urged residents not to venture alone near forested areas.The latest fatality has once again brought the issue of human-animal conflict into focus in the VTR, where several villages lie close to forested areas inhabited by big cats.Earlier this year, three people were killed in separate tiger attacks in the VTR area. Aklu Yadav (62), a resident of Bisaha village, was attacked while grazing goats on July 30 and he died during treatment the next day. On July 31, Umrawati Devi (45) was killed by a tiger while working in a field in the Madanpur forest area. Vijay Haldar (40) died after being attacked while collecting fodder in Bhediyari village on Aug 15.
