18-year-old kills leopard with barehand after big cat attack in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: With raw courage and bare hands, an 18-year-old ITI student fought off and killed a leopard after being attacked in Himachal's Solan, reports Sanjeev Verma.The three-year-old leopard pounced on Parvesh Sharma when he was out to fetch milk Monday mornig.

The teen grappled with the predator, kept its teeth away from his neck, and clobbered it on the head with rocks and stones he could lay his hands on until the leopard died.

In spite of sheer terror, Parvesh didn't panic. He knew the predator would go for his neck, so he used his hands to block its jaws every time it tried to lunge for his jugular while screaming for help.For 10 terrifying minutes, the life-and-death struggle continued as the leopard repeatedly tried to clamp down on his neck. "I grabbed the skin of the leopard's lower jaw and yanked it down while holding back its upper jaw," Parvesh said. He was treated at Arki hospital and later discharged. The forest department awarded him 5,000 as immediate relief.