KRISHNAGIRI/THENI: A 62-year-old man, M Muniyappan of Paavadrapatti, died after he was attacked by a wild elephant near Rayakottai in Krishnagiri district on Monday. Thirteen people died in elephant attacks between April 2023 and March 2024, and eight since April 2024 in the district.
A forest official cautioned the people of the fringe forest villages, warning that a single male elephant has been wandering in the Udedurgam reserve forest. Meanwhile, among other demands, the residents urged the increase of compensation for crops damaged by elephants from Rs 25, 000 per acre to Rs 1 lakh.
An interim solatium of Rs 50,000 was handed to Muniyappan’s family on Monday.
Farmhand killed
A 57-year-old woman died in an elephant attack at the Gudalur forest range near Theni in the Western Ghats on Monday evening. Sources said the victim, P Saraswathi (57), a farmhand in Gudalur, and her husband, while returning home on a two-wheeler, were intercepted by an elephant.
Abandoning the motorbike, the couple started running. However, the elephant caught Saraswathi with its trunk and threw her down, sources said. The doctors at the government hospital in Gudalur declared her dead on arrival. Kumuli police initiated an investigation.