Here's A Timeline Of Tigress Avni's Killing Blamed For 13 Deaths And The Controversy Around It

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to take action on a contempt plea filed against officials of Maharashtra government for the killing of Avni, an adult tigress, reported Bar and Bench. The bench observed that the tigress was killed on the court¡¯s order, and allowed wildlife researcher Sangeet Dogra to withdraw her petition.

PTI

Let's take a look at what had happened then:

Nov 3, 2018: The elusive tigress Avni or T1, who was being hunted for allegedly killing and devouring 13 humans in the Pandharkawada- Ralegaon forests of Yavatmal district in eastern Maharashtra over the two years from 2016-2018, shot dead. As per the Supreme Court directives, the forest department and officials were required to first tranquilise and trap her, but in said operation, she allegedly attacked the stalking team which shot her.

#Maharashtra: Locals in Yavatmal celebrate after 'man-eater' tigress Avni (T1) was killed in last night. She had allegedly killed 14 people. pic.twitter.com/wxN0yvT0Xw

¡ª ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

Tigress Avni was labelled as a man-eater and had been the focus of a massive hunt for many months. The forest department issued a shoot-to-kill order for her in 2018. The shoot-to-kill order was reportedly only to be used as a last resort. It was challenged in courts all the way to the Supreme Court.

#Maharashtra: Postmortem of man-eater tigress Avni to be conducted at Nagpur's Gorewada Rescue Centre. The tigress was killed in Yavatmal last night. pic.twitter.com/x4lGgX4PDW

¡ª ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2018

Feb 2019: However, according to a state-appointed committee, DNA analysis could only confirm the deaths of six people directly due to Avni. Despite numerous unanswered questions, the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra absolved the hunters and closed the case.

Jan 10, 2020: The Uddhav Thackeray-led state government reopened investigations into the killing of tigress T1 or Avni by independent hunters appointed by the state forest department. The move comes after wildlife conservationist Jerryl Banait submitted a letter to the state government and met CM Thackeray and state environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, highlighting inconsistencies in the events leading up to Avni¡¯s killing.

ANI

Early in Feb 2021: The top court had issued notices on the contempt petition filed by one Sangeeta Dogra. The petition claimed that Maharashtra government officials violated the SC order to declare no reward for killing Avni.

The petitioner Dogra submitted before the bench that human remains were not found in the autopsy of the animal. The bench also asked the petitioner on how post report can help establish whether the animal was a man-eater or not. Dogra replied that a man-eater would have nails and hair in the intestine for six months, but her stomach was empty. Dogra argued that hunters were also illegally rewarded for killing her. The bench noted that the authorities flouted orders that they shall not reward anyone who kills (the tigress).

Twitter

Feb 10, 2021: The Supreme Court sought response from the Maharashtra government on a plea claiming that tigress Avni, shot dead by a civilian hunter at Ralegaon in November 2018, was not a man-eater. The top court also demanded answers on the aspect of the reward given for killing of the animal.

On Friday, Chief Justice SA Bobde said that the state government informed the bench that the tigress was killed on the court¡¯s order, and the forest officials did not participate in any celebrations after the death, according to India Today. Bobde said that the villagers celebrated because they were happy that the tigress was killed, and asked how the conservator of forests was responsible for it.