NEW DELHI: In a shocking and gruesome incident a 20-year-old youth was mauled to death by a white tiger at Delhi zoo on Tuesday afternoon. The victim was identified as Maksood, a resident of central Delhi’s Anand Parbat area. The seven-year-old tiger, vijay, is believed to have chewed some parts of the victim’s head. The body has been for autopsy.
There seemed to be various versions on how the youth got into the tiger's enclosure.
The youth worked in a nearby factory and had come all alone to the zoo. The zoo authorities in an official release cla-imed that the youth jumped into the tiger’s enclosure despite repeated warning. It further claimed as soon as the boy jumped into the enclosure the guard, sounded alarm and sent an sos. Attempts of the guard and other zoo staff to divert the attention of the tiger failed and it “mauled the visitor who died on the spot.”
People who were around during the incident, though seemed to have no clear idea or explanation as to whether Maksood slipped and fell or jumped into the enclosure. It was around 1 pm when the disaster struck. An eyewitness, Bittoo first spotted the youth only after he fell into the dry moat. On seeing the youth inside the enclosure, the tiger immediately approached him.
It initially did not or pounce on the youth. The eyewitnesses claimed that the tiger kept looking at the youth for nearly 10 minutes and kept tapping him with his paws. With the beast breathing down on him, the youth cringing, shivering with fear was seen virtually pleading for mercy. Suddenly some visitors started pelting stones and shouting in their bid to save the youth. Ho-wever, this reaction from the crowd aggravated the matter and was apparently the main cause for the youth’s death.
