A 20-year-old man was mauled to death by a tiger after they climbed into a zoo enclosure.
A video that was shared on social media shows the moment the man was cornered by the tiger while terrified onlookers pelted the hungry beast with stones in a failed bid to distract the animal.
According to a statement that was released by the Delhi Zoo, the man in the video, who has been identified as Maqsood, 20, climbed into the enclosure.
Eyewitnesses on the other hand said that the man had slipped.
Witnesses said that the tiger played with the man for some time before it attacked it.
Vijay, the tiger, locked its jaws around the neck of the victim as it dragged him around.
The police also rushed to the scene.
Onlookers have criticized the zoo for not handling the incident properly.
They also said that the zoo’s staff did not put the big cat down with a tranquilizer gun.
Prakash Kumar, an eyewitness, said:
There were no guards near the enclosure at the time. The man seemed to have jumped into the enclosure. I don’t know what was he trying to do. Everyone started shouting for help. But only one zoo guard came. We started throwing stones and whatever we could find at the tiger. But in a matter of second he had dragged the man to the corner of the enclosure.
The body of the victim was retrieved by the authorities 2 hours after the man fell into the enclosure.
Zoo officials insisted that they did their best to save the man and denied allegations of dereliction of duty by the guards.
Riyaz Ahmed Khan, the spokesperson of the zoo, said:
Despite repeated warnings that he shouldn’t get too close to the outdoor enclosure, the youth eventually climbed over a knee-high fence, through some small hedges, then jumped down 18 feet into a protective moat.
Amitabh Agnihotri, the director of the Delhi Zoo, said that the staff tried to divert the attention of the tiger as it was attacking the man, however, their efforts were unsuccessful.
The incident happened 7 years ago however a video of the incident went viral recently.