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Girl, 14, mauled to death by two lions as she steps out for toilet, cousin saves herself by diving into tank

The carnivores dragged the girl's body to a neighboring farm, and partially ate her body

Two lions reportedly attacked a 14-year-old girl and partially ate her after she had gone to the toilet outside on a farm. The incident happened in a village in the Indian state of Gujarat, The Sun reported. According to forest officials, teenager Bhavna Baria had been "answering the call of nature" at 9:30 pm in Dhanfuliya village on Monday, December 21, when the lions mauled her to death. The victim was accompanied by her cousin, Rekha, but she successfully managed to save herself from the attack. Forest Department official Ushman Nanavati told The Indian Express: “As the lions charged at them, Rekha jumped into a nearby water tank. However, the carnivores caught hold of the other girl, killed her, dragged her to a neighboring farm, and partially ate her body. Our staff reached the spot immediately and tried to rescue the girl but couldn’t. They recovered her body.”

Police were quoted by local media as saying that Rekha, who is a migrant farm laborer, soon called for help after the attack. Vanthali police's head constable, Shailesh Sondarva, said, “A team of forest department staff reached the spot immediately and tried to shout the animals away but to no avail. The carnivores could only be driven away after around half an hour. By that time, the animals had eaten the lower limbs of the girl."

“The victim was a native of Methan village in Singvad taluka of Dahod district in eastern Gujarat. Her parents were in their native village while Bhavna came to Dhanfuliya with her maternal uncle’s family to work as an agricultural laborer. Her body has been kept at a government hospital in Junagadh city and her parents have been informed,” Sondarva added. Reports have said that Dhanfuliya village is not very far from the border of Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected forest area where lions live. After the tragic incident, a forest spokesman said officials were trying to catch the lions so that they can be taken back to their protected area. Forest official Nanavati called the death of Baria "very unfortunate".

This comes days after a sick video made from Gujarat's Gir Sanctuary went viral and showed a lion attacking a cow, which was used as bait and tied near trees. The whole episode was reportedly pre-planned for the enjoyment of the viewers. “Disheartening to see people illegally taking videos of Lion hunting in #Gir to get cheap publicity on social media. This is totally against the spirit of #Lion conservation. I hope the guilty are apprehended & punished. @GujForestDept @Ganpatsinhv @moefcc,” Wildlife enthusiast Parimal Nathwani criticized the act on Twitter.

Others also agreed with Nathwani as one user commented: “This is misadventure and against the law. Action requested to punish and set an example.” Another person said, “Nonsense. Strict action should be taken against all these duffers.” “This is extremely not tolerable. They should be prevented taking photos & videos just for cheap publicity on social media. Request to Forest Dept to take prompt against those people,” the third user added.