A 24-year-old youth was trampled to death by a wild elephant while attempting to drive out the animal from a village near Coimbatore on Sunday (July 28, 2024) night. R. Karthik, a resident of Indhira Nagar at Viraliyur near Thondamuthur, died after being trampled by a lone tusker.
According to the Forest Department, a lone tusker strayed from the forest and entered Viraliyur village late on Sunday. S. Bhaskaran, 55, priest of Perumal temple in the village was attacked by the tusker, when he was returning to his residence from the temple, around 8 p.m. He suffered injuries on legs.
After being alerted by the villagers, frontline staff of the Department, who were driving out wild elephants in a nearby location at Narasipuram, rushed to the spot and rescued Mr. Bhaskaran. He was taken to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
A house damaged by a wild elephant at Viraliyur village near Thondamuthur in Coimbatore district on Sunday night. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Around 10 p.m., when the same elephant entered a farm land in the village, Karthik and his friend A. Hareesh, 22, attempted to chase the animal. As they were trying to drive out the elephant, a second tusker entered the farm from another side and attacked the duo. While Karthik died on the spot after being trampled by the tusker, Mr. Hareesh escaped with injuries.
A Forest Department official said the youths were under the influence of alcohol. The staff drove the two tuskers back to the forest after struggling for several hours.
Meanwhile, a third elephant that had come to the same village on Sunday night pushed down three persons around 6.45 a.m. S. Kalichami, 74, V. Vellaiyappan, 74, and S. Sundaraswamy, 56, suffered minor injuries. The incident took place when the elephant had a close encounter with people when it was returning to the forest from the village, after feeding on crops throughout the night.
MLA S.P. Velumani petitions Collector
Former Minister and Thondamuthur MLA S.P. Velumani petitioned Coimbatore District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati on Monday, seeking immediate action to save the lives and properties of people from wild elephants in his constituency. He wanted the Forest Department to capture and translocate wild elephants that are attacking people in villages in and around Thondamuthur. He accused the Forest Department of not preventing wild elephants from entering villages.
The Collector spoke to the villagers, who accompanied the MLA to the collectorate, and assured them that proper action would be taken to deal with negative interactions between humans and wild elephants.
The Forest Department on Monday morning handed over immediate financial relief to the family of Karthik, who died on Sunday night.
Published - July 29, 2024 02:59 pm IST
