Bahraich, Dec 8 (IANS): A seven-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district.

The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Manoharpurwa village under Motipur police circle of Katarniaghat Wildlife Division.

The victim, Lavkush Yadav, was returning from the sugarcane fields along with his elder sister Deepa when a leopard attacked him.

SHO Motipur, Mukesh Singh, said: "Deepa raised an alarm after which villagers gathered with wooden sticks and rods. The feline left the boy's body dismembered and bleeding."

Local police and forest officials reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem.

Divisional forest officer (DFO), Katarniaghat range, Akashdeep Badhawan said that the boy died in the leopard attack.

He said that the forest staff have reached the spot for patrolling as the leopard may again come to the village. He said that the villagers of the area are being advised to venture out in groups.

This is the third such case in the region where a four-year-old boy Aditya and then a nine-year-old boy Ramtej was killed by the big cat.