A mother’s love for her child knows no end. This was proved once again by a brave Madhya Pradesh tribal woman, Kiran, who showed immense bravery to snatch her son, Rahul, from a leopard’s claws.

This incident happened in Badi Jharia village which is situated in the buffer zone of the Sanjay Tiger Reserve in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. The village is more than 500 kilometres from Bhopal, the State capital.

Kiran, who is a Baiga tribal woman with her three children, was sitting beside a fire outside her hut to keep warm. Out of the blue, a leopard appeared, snatching her son Rahul with its jaws and rushing away, informed a forest official today.

Even though Kiran was shell-shocked, she kept her cool. Ensuring that her other two children were safely inside the hut, she immediately ran towards the forest in the direction where the animal had headed with her son, said Y.P. Singh, the tiger reserve director.

Chasing the creature for about a kilometre, she came across the big feline holding the child with its claws in the bushes. She tried to scare the leopard with a stick while raising the alarm.

According to the forest official: "The leopard probably got scared with the woman's courage and left the child. While Kiran immediately took her son in her arms, the feline attacked her. However, she overpowered the big cat with her valour.” Meanwhile, other villagers reached the spot hearing Kiran’s cry for help and then the leopard disappeared in the forest.

Raju received injuries on his back, cheeks and eyes while Kiran was also wounded. They were admitted to the primary health centre by the Buffer Zone Ranger, Aseem Bhuria and also provided an immediate assistance of Rs.1,000. The forest department will be bearing all the medical expenses of the mother and children, the forest official disclosed.

The Chief Minister of the State, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, tweeted about this incident along with their picture, lauding the mother’s courage.