Tiger Found Beheaded In MP Was Mutilated For Its Genitals By A Man To Increase His Libido

The Madhya Pradesh state tiger strike force (STSF) has claimed that they have solved the case of a tiger that was found dead in August.

The headless carcass was found floating in the Ken River in Panna Tiger Reserve, with its genitals and claws missing.

BCCL/ Representational Image

The STSF has reportedly arrested three men including a 60-year-old who mutilated the tiger for its private parts and claws.

Man cut off tiger's private parts

According to The Times of India, the man identified as Achchelal sliced off the dead tiger¡¯s private pats believing it would revive his libido.

The head was allegedly severed by a man who intended it to use it as a scarecrow of sorts to scare off feral cattle from his farm.

The accused were arrested from Palkoha village, an island in River Ken and accessible only by boat.

BCCL/ Representational Image

According to officials, the tiger, officially listed as P123 was killed due to drowning in a fight with another big cat in the reserve named P431.

Tiger's body found on August 8

On August 8, Achchelal spotted the body of the dead tiger and with the help of two others identified as Ghanshyam Kushwah, and Natthu Raikwar brought it ashore, cut off its private parts and claws.

Acchelal and Raikwar also took the tiger head to use it to scare stray cattle from entering their field.

However, after the forest officials spotted the headless body and launched a probe, the third accused, Kushwah urged them to hide the evidence. The trio then threw the head into the Ken River.

But it was too late by then, a sniffer dog which picked up the trail of a slain boar took forest officials to another resident of the village who revealed about what happened to the tiger head.

BCCL

Based on this, the trio was arrested and they have reportedly confessed of the crime.

The recovery of the headless carcass had initially triggered speculations that the tiger was killed by poachers.

This was the sixth tiger death in the reserve and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had constituted a three-member panel to probe the incidents.

Some also had pointed out that there was a similar case in 2005 in the Panna Tiger Reserve where a beheaded tiger was found floating in the same river.

Madhya Pradesh is home to the highest number of tigers in the country. The state has six tiger reserves, including Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Satpura, Sanjay Dubri and Panna, apart from 11 national parks and 24 sanctuaries, all of which are closed for monsoon every year.