Maneka Gandhi terms killing of tigress Avni ‘ghastly murder’  

The tigress, Avni, after being killed.

Calling the killing of a suspected maneater tigress, Avni, “ghastly murder”, minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi alleged that it was carried out on the orders of Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar despite several pleas from stakeholders against doing so.

In a series of tweets, the Union minister said she would take up the matter with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

According to reports appearing in the media, the tigress was killed after it allegedly turned into a maneater.

Demanding justice for the deceased tigress, she tweeted: “It is nothing but a straight case of crime. I am definitely going to take up this case… legally; criminally as well as politically … I will take up the matter very strongly with CM Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis.”

It is nothing but a straight case of crime. Despite several requests from many stakeholders, Sh @SMungantiwar, Minister for Forests, #Maharashtra, gave orders for the killing. #Justice4TigressAvni

— Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) November 4, 2018

This ghastly murder has put two cubs at the edge of a sad death in the absence of their mother. #Justice4TigressAvni

— Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) November 4, 2018

In his defence, Mungantiwar reportedly said, “Ministers and secretaries do not sit in Mumbai and protect forest and animal species. It is done by farmers and Adivasis. In this case, there was a lot of unrest among them. We didn’t want them to eventually become enemies of wildlife.”

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