A viral video showing a distraught mother weeping in a sugarcane field caused alarm in a village in Sitapur district, northern India, about 90km from Lucknow, on Thursday.
The woman, Prema, alleged that a tiger had emerged from hiding and snatched her 18-year-old daughter Kamini right before her eyes. The video captures her crying hysterically, collapsing, and even fainting as villagers and police arrived to help. Kamini’s discarded slippers near the fields seemed to support her claim.
This led to an extensive search mission. Twenty-eight forest officials, eight policemen, two drones, cages, nets, and over 550 villagers searched 10km of farmland and forest for almost 10 hours. Yet, neither a tiger nor Kamini was found.
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“Initially, we found the story completely fabricated. No tiger took her,” the PRO of the Sitapur Superintendent of Police told Khaleej Times by phone. “She left voluntarily, and the family concocted the story to avoid social disgrace. Her location is a separate issue since she is an adult. We have filed a case for causing false alarm.”
Watch a video by photojournalist Sameer in Sitapur here:
Earlier, Senior Superintendent of Police Durgesh Kumar held a press conference, debunking the tiger attack and confirming Kamini had left of her own accord. He urged residents to refrain from spreading rumors that could incite unnecessary fear.
Police became suspicious when Prema and Kamini’s sister gave conflicting statements during the investigation. Eventually, they confessed: Kamini had eloped with her boyfriend Sunny, a young man from a nearby village. Local media reported the family staged the attack to conceal her departure, even placing her slippers in the fields to mislead authorities.
Kamini’s wedding was already planned for November, and her mother admitted she fabricated the tiger story to avoid village gossip.
“Sitapur, famous for its sugarcane fields and forests where tiger sightings aren’t rare, has experienced wildlife encounters,” said Harpal, a resident. “But this time, the ‘tiger hunt’ concluded not in the jungle, but as a runaway love story.”
