THRISSUR: Two tribal persons who went inside the forest for collecting honey and other forest produce were found dead inside the forest in Athirappilly on Tuesday. They had run out of their temporary tents during a wild elephant attack.
The deceased are Satheesh, 30, and Ambika, 34, of Sasthampoovam Unnathi, Vazhachal. Satheesh was found lying face down on the rock on the banks of the river while Ambika’s body was retrieved from the river. There were wounds on the head of Satheesh. According to Rema, Satheesh’s wife, “We went for collecting honey about a week ago. On Monday night, while we were sleeping, a herd of four wild elephants attacked the tent. We ran away and jumped into the river. Satheesh and Ambika couldn’t keep up with us and they could not be traced. In the morning, we informed the forest officials and family members about the incident.”
She added that she saw Satheesh running away during the elephant attack.
On Sunday, a young man from Adichilthotti Unnathi was killed in an elephant attack. Twenty-year-old Sebastian, son of Thamban, was trampled to death when he went inside forest for collecting honey.
“The repeated elephant attacks are giving us a hard time. We have been trying to tackle this situation by all possible ways. Rapid response teams will have to be expanded further to alert the public about the presence of wild animals,” said Athirappilly panchayat president K K Rijesh.