IDUKKI : In the fifth loss of life to wild elephant attacks in Idukki this year, a 70-year-old woman was killed by a tusker at Kanjiraveli, near Neriamangalam, on Monday, triggering massive protests.
Indira Ramakrishnan, of Mundokkulathil House, was returning after taking breakfast to her husband, Ramakrishnan, who was collecting arrow roots from his plantation, when the tusker that strayed into the residential area trampled and gored her around 9am. Susan Thomas, a neighbour of Indira, said she cried for help on seeing the elephant attacking her. People working in a nearby plantation rushed to the spot and took Indira to a hospital in Kothamangalam. However she died on the way.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed on the taluk hospital premises in Kothamangalam, where Indira’s body was brought for postmortem, as the UDF staged a protest demanding immediate steps to mitigate the wild elephant menace on the forest fringes. The protesters took the body of Indira out of the mortuary and held a demonstration. The police later took over the body forcibly and completed the postmortem examination. Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan and Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappally launched an indefinite hunger strike in Kothamangalam on Monday evening demanding steps to end wild animal attacks.
The Kothamangalam police later registered a case against Kuzhalnadan, Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose, Ernakulam DCC president Mohammad Shiyas, and 50 others, for protesting with the body of the victim.
According to local residents, wild elephants have been roaming in the village — located close to the Neriamangalam forest range — for the past several days.
No proper solar fencing for our safety, say villagers
Protesting the forest department’s alleged apathy in taking steps to drive the elephants back to the forest despite being informed, the residents staged a demonstration in front of the range office at Neriamangalam when Indira’s body was brought home from the Kothamangalam taluk hospital around 6.30pm. The protestors blocked the ambulance that brought the body, resulting in a minor clash between the residents and police. The police even lathi-charged the protestors to make way for the ambulance to proceed to her house.
According to Susan, wild elephants stray regularly into the village from the nearby forest to reach the Periyar and then return through the same route. “However, a tusker has been camping in a nearby islet for the past few days. Since school children used to bathe in the river and play in the area, local residents tried to chase the elephant back to the forest. It was the same tusker that attacked Indira,” Susan told TNIE.
Indira’s daughter Sheeja said the family comprising her parents, elder brother Shibu, 49, his wife and children, were dependent on farming for livelihood. “Since instances of wild animals straying into human settlements and plantations have increased, rubber and arrow roots are the main crops cultivated in the two-acre plantation we own,” she said. Sheeja said she has grown up witnessing people making a living braving jumbos. “Unfortunately, this time, my mother became a victim of the unexpected attack,” she said. Residents said there is no proper solar fencing in the village to ensure their safety and protect crops.
(With inputs from Kochi)