A wild elephant entered villages and trampled to death two women and two cattle in Krishnagiri district on Sunday. Villagers have demanded that the Forest Department take steps to prevent elephants from entering villages.
More than 100 elephants from a forest in Karnataka reportedly entered the district in search of food, and were spotted roaming in various places from December last year. A few days ago, an elephant entered Denkanikottai. It was, however, chased into the forest by the Department personnel.
On Sunday, an elephant entered Anniyalam near Denkanikottai. Upon seeing the animal, A. Vasanthamma, 37, a resident of the village, began running. However, the animal attacked her, killing her on the spot. The animal also killed two cattle.
Later, it moved to Dasarapalli, attacked V. Aswathamma, 40, in a farm and killed her.
Following the incidents, Anniyalam residents staged a road roko near the village bus stand. In Dasarapalli, locals led by Thally MLA T. Ramachandran staged a road roko at Anchetty Road.
They raised slogans urging the government to provide compensation to the kin of the deceased. They withdrew their protest following an assurance from forest and police personnel that their demands would be looked into.
Forest and police personnel held talks with them, and assured them that their demands would be looked into. Following this, the villagers withdrew their four-hour-long protest.
Later, Mr. Ramachandran told reporters: “In the ongoing Assembly session, I spoke of the need to prevent deaths caused by wild animals in Thally. ...We urge the government to prevent elephants from entering villages by erecting solar fencing...”
