ELEPHANTINE CRUELTIES
Tuskers made to walk from place to place.
Lorries not used to transport them.
Made to stand in the hot sun.
No thought given to their fatigue and injury.
TORTUROUS TALES
Kalpathy Kesavan, who succumbed to injuries in Palakkad on November 17, is the fourth captive elephant to die of human torture in the last one-and-a-half months.
Sooryan, a 48-year-old tusker, was found dead in a private plot at Mulankunnathukavu in Thrissur on October 3. Both its hind and forelegs had three-year-old wounds that were never tended to. Its underbelly had puss-filled welts, a clear sign of severe torture. Its toenails had fallen off.
Manikantan, a 42-year-old tusker, was found dead in the house of an elephant contractor at Pattambi, Palakkad, on October 10. It was transported from Alappuzha a month ago, reportedly without permission.
The beast had deep torture marks on its body. Its toenails had come off, proof that the infection on the legs were never cared for.
Pullukulangara Ganeshan, another 42- year-old tusker, was found dead on the premises of the Pullukulangara Dharmasastha Temple, Alappuzha on October 14. The beast died as a result of an internal shock suffered during the ‘familiarisation beating’ unleashed on it by the new mahout using a ‘valiyakol’, a long controlling stick.
THE LATEST ABUSE
Venue: The Kalpathy car festival.
Tusker Kallekulangara Rajashekharan and Mangalamkunnu Ramachandran perform the ritualistic tugging of chariots through the streets
Devotees pull the chariots from the front The pachyderms push the chariot from behind.
Sacks are tied to their forehead.
The animals often bend to push the chariot.
Elephant Mangalamkunnu Ramachandran left with a deep cut on its trunk
No temple festival in Kerala is complete without the grand procession of elephants. Caparisoned elephants used for ‘ezhunnellippu’ ritual speaks about the grandeur of the fest. But many a time, these majestic mammals are treated inhumanly, says A Satish and R Ayyappan.
The cut was just the leftover of an injury which occurred when was caught from the forests. Efforts were made to suture it but the lack of proper treatment led to infection which proved fatal.
M A Parameswaran, elephant owner