Davangere: We have come across incidents wherein people are killed by tigers, lions, leopards, bears, elephants and other wild animals. In a freak yet tragic incident, an elderly man was mauled to to death by a monkey while he was going to the toilet at a village in Davangere district of Karnataka, officials said.
The incident has taken place on Sunday Nov 12 at Arakere village of Honnali taluk in Davangere district. The victim has been identified as 66-year-old Gutyappa Bin Rangappa. Sources said that on Sunday midnight, when Gutyappa went out to the toilet, the monkey attacked him and bit him in the hand leaving him in a pool of blood.
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Noticing this, the family members immediately rushed the injured Gutyappa to Honnali Taluk Government Hospital for treatment. An official said that Gutyappa succumbed at the hospital on Monday. The tragic incident has caused a wave of shock and grief in the area. Amid an uproar by the locals against the authorities, the Forest Department finally caught the monkey giving a sigh of relief to the villagers.
Locals said that the monkey has been roaming in the area for the past many days especially in AK Colony. Apart from the fatal attack on the elderly man, another local identified as Prabhakar was also attacked by a monkey, but he was lucky to escape the attack. DFO Shashidhar terming the elderly's death a “rare case” said more than thirty staff camped in the village and captured the monkey.
He said the monkey will be sent to the forest department and examined by a veterinarian. He said the government will pay Rs 15 lakh compensation and Rs 4,000 per month for five years to Gutyappa's family.
