A 12-year-old boy from Mysuru escaped a leopard attack after reportedly piercing the animal’s eye with his finger. The incident took place at Beeregowdanahundi near Kadakola, in Mysuru taluk in Karnataka on Monday, according to reports. Nandan Kumar managed to escape the attack miraculously, but suffered bites on his neck and shoulders as the leopard had attacked him. He is now under treatment at a private hospital in Mysuru and is recovering.

According to a family member that TNM spoke to, the 12-year-old was feeding his cows at his farmhouse near Kadakola. Adjacent to the farmhouse, is a 140-acre vacant plot of land owned by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL).

On Monday, the leopard, which was hiding nearby, pounced on Nandan while he was feeding his cows, according to local sources. The 12-year-old, in an act of self defence, poked the leopard’s eye with his finger and escaped from it’s clutches. The wild cat reacted to the attack by retracting and running back into the bushes. The family member who was present in the farmhouse at the time of the attack, added that after the leopard ran away, Nandan's family rushed to help him and admitted him to a hospital.

Following the incident, residents of Kadakola and the neighbouring villages of KM Hundi, BG Hundi and KN Hundi protested in front of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) office, demanding that they clear the bushes on the vacant land immediately, to avoid untoward incidents.

Speaking to the local media, Regional Forest Office Girish explained that generally, leopards do not attack human beings and that the incident of a leopard attacking a boy was the first of its kind to be reported in the district. On the 12-year-old’s health condition, the RFO said that, “the boy is out of danger and is responding to treatment.”