Nagpur/Yavatmal: A marble memorial plaque, commemorating victims of tigress Avni, has been unveiled at Borati village in Yavatmal district on Wednesday, November 2, the date on which the man-eater tigress was killed in 2018 by a team of Forest Department and father-son shooter duo Shafath and Asghar Ali Khan.
The reign of terror created by Avni, is still fresh in minds of people of Yavatmal’s Ralegaon taluka. Villagers shuddered from the thought of stepping out of their homes in the dark as T-1 had preyed upon 13 people and appeared to be unstoppable. Finally, the tigress was put to sleep on and to commemorate the day, four years after the incident, the memorial of T-1’s victims was unveiled at Borati village in Ralegaon tehsil on Wednesday.
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Sharpshooter Nawab Shafaat Ali Khan from Hyderabad, who was assigned the job to fix the problem, and his son Asghar Ali attended the programme.
The marble plaque contains each victim along with the place where they fell prey. Representatives from 75 gram panchayats also attended the event, apart from residents of villages in different parts of Ralegaon tehsil where the tigress made most of her kills.
Avni’s killing, on which the Vidya Balan-starrer Sherni was made, led to the shooters coming under heavy criticism and facing legal cases from wildlife activists and NGOs.
“The tigress had taken 13 innocent lives. To keep their memory alive people erected a memorial that bears the names of victims. They will always be remembered by their people but the Government should also show responsibility towards kin of the tigress attack victims and offer government jobs to at least one person from the family,” said Nawab Ali.
The memorial built to commemorate those who died in the attack of Avni was unveiled at the hands of Nawab Shafaat Ali. The memorial also bears the name of a woman who was killed in an elephant attack in Ralegaon tehsil.
Organiser Arvind Futane from Sawarkheda, Ankush Muneshwar, Vedashi, along with Sarpanch and people from Borati and nearby villages were present for the programme. Nawab Ali further said, “Many NGOs and social activists had condemned the killing of the tigress and knocked the doors of the Supreme Court. We tried hard to cage Avni alive but we were unable to do so. We do feel sorry for it even today.”
