Monkeys Kill Elderly Woman In Agra, Second Death In Two Days

In a recent incident, a 58-year-old woman succumbed to death after a group of monkeys attacked her in the outskirts of Agra city.

Bhoomi Devi was attacked on Wednesday in Thok Mohalla area when she had stepped out of her house to relieve herself.

The incident comes after a 12-days-old infant died when a monkey snatched him from his mother's lap in Agra's Kacchara area on Monday.

Devi's family members said, "She had lost so much blood that doctors could do nothing to save her."

Following the elderly woman's death, locals took out marches and held a meeting Wednesday night, demanding monkeys be excluded from the list of protected species under the Wild Life Act of 1972.

The victims' kins on Thursday demanded compensation from the district authorities.

Currently, there are over 25,000 monkeys in the city, according to municipal corporation officials.

During the meeting conducted by environmentalists and social activists, Satyamev Jayate, trustee, Mukesh Jain, he said, "For over a decade we have been demanding permission to transfer monkeys to forested areas and also setting up of a facility to sterilise monkeys, but so far we have failed to get permission from government agencies."

Social activist Shravan Kumar Singh said, "Each day the number of (incidents of) monkey bites is going up and citizens are dead scared to move out freely, roam on terraces."

"Monkey attacks have become so frequent that women and children are reluctant to move around freely," he said.

They also passed a resolution at the meeting, demanding adequate compensation to victims of monkey attacks.

"It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens. If it cannot do that then compensation should be paid to the victim or his family," according to the resolution.

Agra has been plagued by monkey menace for the past 10 years.

At Sikandra and Fatehpur Sikri, the number of monkeys has gone beyond safe limits.

Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan were worst affected by monkeys who frequently attack tourists and pilgrims.

(With inputs from agencies)