Tragedy has struck an Indian village where a three-year-old boy was killed after monkeys pushed a boulder from a roof onto his head.
Local residents in India’s central Telangana state said Devunuri Abhinav was playing under the tin roof when a gang of monkeys jumping around caused the boulder to fall off the child.
The three-year-old had only recently had a near-death experience, falling on a knife six months ago that pierced his throat, according to reports.
His parents, known locally in Akkanapet village of Katukuri as Rajitha and Srikanth, had paid Rs.5 lakh – or more than $6,000 – to have their child undergo life-saving surgery.
He had almost fully recovered from his ordeal when the primates caused him to be crushed, local media reported.
Villagers said Devunuri Abhinav, three, was under the tin roof when a gang of monkeys jumping around on it caused the boulder to fall off and hit the child.
A gang of monkeys jumped onto a tin roof and rolled a boulder towards the small child (file image)
The toddler’s death has sparked growing concerns about violent monkeys in the village, with locals saying they had been plagued by them for some time.
BJP MP Raj Kumar Chahar recently expressed concern in parliament over the monkey threat.
He asked for clarification on how much aid the state provides to victims of monkey attacks.
It came after the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change revealed it had no data on the number of injuries or deaths from monkey bites in India.
Monkeys have wreaked havoc in the country in recent years, with the toddler’s death being the latest in a long line of gruesome primate deaths.
In March, a 70-year-old woman in South India died after being attacked by a pack of rampaging monkeys as she made her way to the bathroom.
Chataraboina Narsavva was at home in her village in Kamareddy district of Telangana state when the aggressive creatures attacked her.
The pensioner, who lived with her daughter in Ramareddy village, was alone at the time of the attack.
Her daughter, who had been away for a wedding, later rushed her mother to hospital, where she died of her injuries.
Instead of being mauled by the animals, police said Narsavva slipped and hit her head on the ground. Times of India reports.
She sustained the injuries she later died from when she tried to escape the mob of monkeys, according to a local police inspector.
Last year, a five-year-old girl died after being overrun by ferocious monkeys in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The young girl, named Narmada, was playing on the banks of the Nakatiya River in Bareilly.
As the group of children cried for help, local villagers rushed to the scene and rescued the injured girl from the monkeys. India times reported.
The little girl, who was bleeding after being ‘bitten almost everywhere’, was rushed to hospital where she died of her injuries.
In 2021, the mother of eight-day-old twins claimed her babies had been snatched by ferocious monkeys, killing one of the little girls and saving the other.
In 2020, a mother and four of her children were crushed to death at their home in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh after a wall was knocked down by a pack of monkeys.
The five victims were killed by falling masonry after the wall was “shaking violently” by monkeys while the family slept in the courtyard.
2019, a 50-year-old man died in Sambhal after falling from a terrace near his house when attacked by monkeys.
According to reports, it was the sixth monkey-related death in Sambhal alone in 2019.
Just months earlier, a A month and a half old baby was killed by a monkey who apparently jumped into her crib to steal her milk bottle.
Also in the same year, a monkey killed a 60-year-old man and injured nine others after stampeding through a town in central India.
In 2018, a 58-year-old woman suffered serious injuries and died after being attacked by a monkey outside her home in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.