A four-year-old girl, Adha Shakil, was mauled to death by a leopard in the Ompora area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, India on Thursday evening.

The girl was reportedly captured by the big cat while she was playing in the garden outside her house.

Worried relatives reported her missing and a search was launched in the district, the India Today reported.

Police officers, supported by wildlife experts and Army troops, worked through the night to find Adha and eventually found her mutilated body in woodland the following morning.

In a heartbroken tribute on Friday, the grandfather who described little Adha as the ‘apple of his eye’ said,

“She was an apple of my eye. She was our princess, she was your daughter. We’re doomed.

“Adha was incredible.”

He added, “We have been pleading with the wildlife officials for long to do something about it. This nursery has become so dense now and they need to take steps to ensure such gruesome incidents don’t take place.”

Another neighbour, Mushtaq Ahmed, added: ‘The latest attack has spread panic in the area. We’re all restless after losing a precious soul.’

According to official records, 49 people were killed and 829 injured in animal attacks in the province between 2014 and 2018, The Hindu reports.