Kathmandu, May 16:

A female leopard attacked two persons at Nayabasti near Gaushala this morning, police said, adding that the beast was later beaten to death. Suk Bahadur Tamang, one of the two persons injured in the attack, said he heard the sound of an old man yelling for help. “Moving on, we saw a leopard attacking an old man,” he said.

Tamang, who had gone to the area to learn driving from his friend Sukra Bahadur Tamang, said they took out a lever of the taxi and attacked the beast with it.

“Sukra first pelted stones at the leopard, but it continued to maul the man. Then I threw stone at it. The beast roared and attacked me. I caught it with one hand and hit it with the lever by another hand. Then it fell on the road. Again, it jumped and scratched my head. The leopard died when I and my friend hit it with the lever again,” he told this daily.

District Forest Officer Bajra Kishore Yadav said they took the dead leopard to the office.

Tamang and the old man were admitted to the Teku Hospital. The police, however, said they have not been able to ascertain the identity of the old man.