ROURKELA: A 40-year-old woman Arati Munda was killed after being attacked by a wild elephant at Koida area of Bonai Forest Division (BFD) in Sundargarh district on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.The body was handed over to her family after autopsy on Sunday.
Bonai divisional forest officer (DFO) Lalat Patra said a herd of seven elephants had entered Koida and the elephant squad was also present alerting people when the incident occurred. “Around 1 am, an elephant attacked a house and the woman who was staying in the adjacent house ran out in panic. But before she could escape, an elephant attacked her,” Patra said. She was immediately rushed to the Koida Community Health Centre (CHC), but succumbed after a while, the DFO said.
The herd was later guided to the nearby Bhawanipahar reserve forests and process has been initiated for release of compensation amount of Rs 6 lakh to the bereaved family.Ten days ago at Dengula area of Koida block another woman was killed by an elephant.