A four-year-old girl sitting on her mother’s lap died after a nilgai crashed through the windshield of their moving car in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district, officials said on Friday.
The incident occurred around 6.45 pm on Wednesday near Bilonia village, when the family was travelling to celebrate Makar Sankranti.
Guna resident Sonu Jat was driving with his wife and daughter Tanya to their ancestral village, Magrada. Police said two nilgai suddenly ran onto the road near the Do Khambha area on the Guna bypass.
Before Jat could react, one nilgai leapt, smashed through the windshield and landed inside the car. The animal’s legs struck Tanya on the head while she was seated on her mother’s lap, Cantonment police station in-charge TI Anoop Bhargava said.
The child suffered fatal injuries from the impact, while both parents were also hurt, he added.
Locals and forest staff rushed her parents to the district hospital, where they are undergoing treatment, the official said.
Meanwhile, the forest department rescued the nilgai trapped inside the car after considerable efforts. The nilgai is reported to be in a critical condition.