In a chilling yet extraordinary tale from the hills of Darjeeling, a 60-year-old woman turned into an unlikely warrior, taking on a ferocious leopard with nothing but a stick and sheer willpower to protect her granddaughter. Devika Sherpa, a resident of Devkota village in Lower Bhutia Basti, fought the wild animal for nearly an hour inside her own home — refusing to back down even as she suffered severe injuries. Her only thought — save her five-year-old granddaughter.
The leopard reportedly entered the house suddenly, targeting the child and a pet dog. Devika, who was upstairs at the time, came face-to-face with the predator when it pounced on her. With no escape and danger lurking below, she made a split-second decision — to fight.
“Had I retreated or moved forward, it would have killed me,” she recalled from her hospital bed.
“Death felt certain, so I chose to fight. My granddaughter was downstairs — I had to protect her.”
Grabbing a stick lying nearby, she struck the leopard repeatedly as it lunged at her. What followed was a brutal, drawn-out struggle — an hour-long clash of instinct and endurance. Bloodied and exhausted, Devika eventually reached a point where she could barely lift her arm. But the leopard, too, weakened under her relentless blows.
Against the odds, she survived.
Devika is currently undergoing treatment at Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, bearing deep wounds on her head and body. Even as she recovers, her voice carries not just the memory of fear — but anger. She has sharply criticised the Forest Department, questioning its response to the recurring leopard menace in the area.
“If a human harms an animal, strict action is taken immediately. But when wild animals attack people, what protection do we get?” she asked.
According to her, leopard sightings are not new. “They roam here like stray dogs. I lost my entire goat farm to them. We’ve complained many times, but nothing has changed,” she said.
Back in her hospital bed, Devika’s message is clear—and urgent. “I survived today. But there are children, elderly people, and women alone at home. Something worse could happen anytime.”
Her concerns echo a broader issue in the region — human settlements increasingly overlapping with wildlife habitats, leading to frequent and dangerous encounters. Following the incident, Forest Department officials visited the site. Preliminary findings suggest the leopard is currently hiding in a narrow crevice or rocky hollow nearby. Footage circulating locally appears to show the animal crouched in a confined space.
Officials have stated that the leopard is in an agitated state, making immediate capture risky. Any hasty attempt could trigger another attack or drive the animal deeper into residential areas. A rescue operation will be carried out once conditions are deemed safer.
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