Midnight Visitor: A Leopard’s Quiet Stroll Through a Home in Shimla’s Navbahar, Reignites Fear
Residents of Navbahar, on the outskirts of Shimla, awoke to a chilling discovery on Thursday—not of a break-in by a thief, but by a far more formidable visitor. CCTV footage from late Wednesday night shows a fully grown leopard calmly entering a residential house, climbing its staircase, and exploring the second floor as if it were its own territory.
The clock in the footage read 11:23 pm on January 21 when the sleek predator entered the home owned by Nandini Pathania. With a disturbing sense of ease, it navigated the human space, its movements steady and unhurried. After finding no prey, it turned around and exited the building just as quietly as it had arrived. While the family was home at the time, thankfully, no one was harmed—a stroke of luck in what could have ended in tragedy.
For the people of Navbahar, however, the relief is mixed with deep-seated anxiety. This isn’t just another wildlife sighting. “We’ve seen leopards before, but never inside a multi-storey house like this,” shared a shaken neighbour. The area, nestled beside forests, has seen increasing leopard activity in recent years, with pets going missing and big cats spotted on roads after dark. For working residents who return home late, every shadow now holds a threat.
The incident has ripped open old wounds, reviving painful memories of the 2021 attacks when two young children lost their lives to leopards in separate, heartbreaking incidents in Shimla.
Frustration and fear are now turning into urgent demands. The local community is calling on the Forest Department for more than just notices—they want consistent night patrols, active monitoring of leopard movement, and concrete steps to prevent such close encounters. The message is clear: coexistence cannot mean constant fear.
This quiet, midnight walk through a family home is more than a viral video—it’s a stark reminder of the shrinking boundaries between forest and settlement, and a pressing call for a thoughtful, lasting solution to keep both people and wildlife safe.
