A raging swarm of 20 monkeys attacked and killed a man as he screamed for help in an Indian village.
Ramnath Chaudhary, a retired clerk of the local sugar mill, was ambushed to death when he was collecting fodder for his cattle in the Madhubani district of Bihar – a state of eastern India, south of Nepal.
The incident has caused immense panic among the local residents in the Shahpur village.
On Sunday, Chaudhary, 67, arrived to his farm to collect fodder when a group of 20 monkeys attacked him.
He fell over, screaming for help, but nobody was in the immediate area.
By the time some of the villagers had rushed over to him, the former clerk was badly injured.
His family and neighbours quickly took him to Madhubani Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Police have been alerted to the incident and are demanding the forest department capture the monkeys to prevent further tragedies.
While the animals have caused havoc in the village in recent months – such as biting people and damaging household goods – this is reportedly the first time they have killed a person.
An officer from Pandaul police station said: ‘We have requested the forest department officials to take steps to resolve the issue. The monkeys could be caught and released elsewhere. We have also asked the local people to stay alert and keep away from the simians.’
But the local forest officer, Bhaskar Chandra Bharti, said that monkeys no longer came under the jurisdiction of the environment and forests department after they were removed from the list of protected animals, reported ETV Bharat.
Instead, control of the animals is the responsibility of the local police, he claimed.
‘We got information about the tragic death of a man in an attack by monkeys,’ Bharti said.
‘It is the responsibility of the local bodies or municipalities to check them. However, we have asked our personnel to visit the place of occurrence and take stock of the situation. We will provide technical help and expertise, if asked,’ Bharti said.
In July, at least two people were killed in a stampede triggered after monkeys caused crowds to panic by jumping on and breaking a live wire outside a temple in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The group of monkeys jumped onto an electric wire outside the Ausaneshwar Mahadev Temple in the Barabanki region, causing it to snap and fall on a shed, triggering panic among worshippers who tried to flee the area.
Nineteen people were electrocuted, while more than two dozen others were injured in the ensuring stampede-like incident.
Accidents involving large crowds are not uncommon at religious gatherings in India, and are often blamed on poor crowd management.
At least 30 people were killed in a pre-dawn crowd crush at the Maha Kumbh (Great Pitcher) festival in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj in January, as tens of millions gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on its most auspicious day.
