Cases registered against six for death of Kochi temple tusker

Temple authorities, mahouts likely to be arrested

February 08, 2014 11:19 am | Updated November 17, 2021 11:05 am IST - KOCHI:

Tusker Ayyappan which got trapped in a marsh at Edakochi on Thursday. The elephant died after a 10-hour-long rescue effort. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat

Tusker Ayyappan which got trapped in a marsh at Edakochi on Thursday. The elephant died after a 10-hour-long rescue effort. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat

The Forest Department has registered cases against six persons, including temples authorities and mahouts, following the death of tusker Ayyappan which got trapped in a swamp at Edakochi on Thursday.

The six accused in the case are the presidents and secretaries of the Sankarankulangara Temple Devaswom, Thrissur and Kannankottu Devi Temple, Pambayimoola, Edakochi and the two mahouts of the animal. The hours-long rescue operation failed as the elephant, which had run into the marshy area near Edakochi, collapsed after being dragged into the land by rescuers.

The cases were registered at the Mekkapala Forest station against the temple authorities and mahouts for violating provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Kerala Captive Elephant Management Rules 2012, said Suneel Pamidi, Divisional Forest Officer, Malayattoor.

Rules state that the temple authorities should inform the Forest officials concerned about the parading of the animal at least 72 hours before the event. In this case, the temple authorities didn’t bother to inform the department. Moreover, they kept the Forest officials in the dark regarding the incident. They had also kept the information on rescue operations out of the reach of the Forest officials. It was after the death of the animal that the temple authorities bothered to inform the department, said Mr. Pamidi.

The Act prescribes a punishment of three years for the accused. Officials of the Forest department have proceeded to Thrissur for arresting the accused, he said.

Meanwhile, the carcase of the elephant was cremated at Walayar after the post-mortem examination.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.