Panic gripped the hamlets close to the Chittoor-Tamil Nadu border after a nine-member herd of wild elephants fatally attacked a 52-year-old farmer at Tanjavur village of Yadamarri mandal in the district, 25 km from here, on Thursday morning.
According to local residents, the victim, Valligan (52), a speech and hearing impaired farmer, was relieving himself at a pond near his fields around 6 a.m., after finishing his night vigil, when the attack took place. The farmers in the neighbouring fields, who were also getting ready to return home, spotted the nine-member herd of wild elephants marching towards the forests of Paradarami (T.N.), after emerging from the pond. In a few seconds, the herd starting running towards Valligan, whose back was facing them. The farmers shouted to warn him but in vain.
The Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor West), who enquired with the eye-witnesses, said that a male tusker leading the herd lifted Valligan into the air and flung him to a distance of 20 feet. The jumbos trailing their leader trampled him to death, while the panicked villagers ran helter skelter.
“The deceased could not hear the warnings shouted by his fellow farmers. Further, he was wearing a white shirt. It is a known fact that wild elephants get enraged when they look at any object that is white,” the DFO said.
Financial aid
Meanwhile, senior revenue, police and forest officials inspected the spot. The victim’s body was shifted to the government hospital at Chittoor for autopsy.
Puthalapattu MLA M.S. Babu spoke to the victim’s family members and arranged ₹2 lakh for immediate expenses on behalf of the government. The deceased is survived by wife, two unmarried daughters and a son.
According to the DFO, the herd had been on the prowl across the Paradarami-Yadamarri forest belt for a month. “We are more worried as the herd has two young ones, which often stray away from the group, forcing the other members to go in search of them, thus criss-crossing the fields abutting the forests. We have deployed additional force of forest watchers and elephant trackers in the region,” he said.
