Himachal Pradesh: Monkey Picks Up 4-Month-Old Baby, Drops Child Shortly After

A four-month-old infant suffered minor injuries after being picked up by a monkey in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. The incident caused panic among the residents, prompting them to notify the local Forest and Wildlife Department. Reportedly, two cages have been set up to capture the monkey.

The infant, named Shubman, was released after receiving preliminary treatment at a local government hospital. His family reported that his condition is stable.

“As we learned about the incident, a team from the Forest and Wildlife Department rushed to the village of Charata. The family members said the child was lying on a charpoy when a monkey seized him. His mother, Jyoti, was inside a room. When she heard her son’s screams, she rushed to the veranda and raised an alarm. Local villagers gathered, and the monkey, unable to carry the child, abandoned him at a distance of 10 feet. We have conducted an initial fact-finding probe into the incident,” Sushil Rana, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Una, told The Indian Express.

The child’s aunt, Kamlesh Devi, however, disputed the official’s account, stating, “The monkey snatched the baby from Jyoti’s (his mother’s) lap. Unable to carry the baby, the monkey soon abandoned him. We informed the local forest department.”

The husband of the village sarpanch, Bhupinder Thakur, remarked, “The forest is far yet the monkeys stray into our village. We inform forest department personnel from time to time, and they make efforts to control the menace, but the problem still exists. Forest guards install cages, and the monkeys are captured. This is the first time a case of a monkey picking up a child has been reported in our area.”

A local forest officer mentioned, “There is a famous shrine called Bondale Mahadev near the village of Charata, where people feed monkeys and this attracts them to the village.”

Meanwhile, several cases of monkeys snatching purses and food items from people have been recently reported in Shimla district, where the monkey population is quite high.