MANGALURU: Eight people, including six women, had a miraculous escape when an elephant attacked their vehicle at Kidu near Bilinele in Subramanya of Dakshina Kannada district, on Saturday.
Prabhu Kumar, an agriculturist, along with his family from Kudlur village in Tarikere taluk of Chikkamagaluru district was on his way to Kukke Subramanya temple when the incident occurred at around 7 am. They had left home two days ago on a pilgrimage and had finished over half a dozen temples in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. After their overnight stay at Dharmasthala, they had left for Subramanya.
Prabhu Kumar said, “Everyone woke up at 4am, and were to leave at 5.30am for Subramanya. We set off at 5.45am. Around 7am, a car overtook us two minutes before the attack, and missed the elephant by just a few seconds.” The elephant, which was crossing the road, felt stuck. Driver Girish recalled how the elephant, which was 20 metres away, started moving towards the car. The car was parked near a light pole for the elephant to cross the road.
“When the driver saw the elephant, he started reversing the car. The elephant, which was frightened, reached us and hit the middle of the car with its trunk,” Kumar said.The women in the car began to scream, till the elephant walked away. Doddamma (55) who has a heart problem was fast asleep while the elephant attacked, only to be woken up by Kumar’s mother’s screams later.
A second blow and the car would have been thrown like a ball, Kumar added. The women continued crying out loud, stuck on the lonely road. A mini bus that passed that way, stopped to help them out of their car and took them to a hospital in Subramanya to treat minor injuries. The driver had hurt his hand as the steering was crushed by the tusker.
On reaching the police station there, Kumar was redirected to Kadaba station where a complaint was filed. Police said the forest department had filed the complaint and the victims were unaware that the elephant was a wild one. Karikalan V, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mangaluru division, said the elephant, which was alone, was crossing the road when it felt stuck between vehicles. “We were supposed to go to Sringeri, Horanadu, Kalasa, but will head right back home,” said Kumar after his visit to Subramanya temple.