Woman in Mumbai fends off leopard with a walking stick in dramatic video

The woman bravely fought off the animal with just her walking stick before crying for help

A 55-year-old woman fended off an attack by a leopard that crept up on her outside her a home in the suburb of India's western city of Mumbai, with nothing but just a walking stick.

The dramatic video captured on CCTV shows the predator lying in wait outside a house on Wednesday. The animal attacked the woman when she stepped out with a walking stick and sat on the front porch.

The woman managed to fend off the leopard despite the animal trying to maul her multiple times. The leopard ran away after she raised a cry for help. Her family members rushed to her rescue after hearing her shriek.

The woman, identified as Nirmala Devi Singh, was rushed to a nearby hospital with scratches on her face, elbow, arm, back and leg.

Gajanan Hire, in charge of the Thane Forest Division which oversees Aarey Colony, told Times of India that the claw marks indicated that the attack was carried out by a sub-adult leopard.

This was the third reported incident of leopard attack within a week in the Aarey Colony - a residential area situated near Aarey forest which borders the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Aarey forest is one of the green areas near Mumbai that is home to a wide variety of animals and birds.

However, due to increasing human-animal conflict, the city’s green cover is believed to be shrinking with the cutting of trees and construction work.

There have been several such incidents of leopards straying into residential areas in the past.

Earlier, a 4-year-old boy was rescued by locals when a leopard tried to drag him away from near his house. Similarly, a 3-year-old boy was attacked by a leopard.

On Tuesday, a leopard cub was spotted walking on the streets of Mumbai on piles of rubbish and was later rescued and relocated by wildlife authorities.