KRISHNAGIRI: A 35- year-old woman was trampled to death by an elephant near Uddanapalli on Wednesday. The victim was identified as M Mamtha (35) of Hanumanthapuram village.
According to police, Mamtha, who worked at a hotel at Kelamangalam, is survived by her husband and three school-going children. On Wednesday, she hitched a ride to work on a two-wheeler as the government bus was running late. When the bikers reached the Hanumanthapuram bus stop, they saw a herd of elephants crossing the Uddanapalli-Kelamangalam road to enter the Sanamavu reserved forest. They tried to stop, but the rider lost control and both fell on the road, One of the elephants trampled on Mamtha.
Following the incident, Hanumanthapuram villagers staged a road blockade demanding a government job for the victim’s child and preventing jumbo movement in the area.
Denkanikottai DSP C Murali, Hosur DSP A Babu Prasanth and Hosur forest ranger R Parthasarathy pacified the villagers. Parthasarathy handed over an interim solatium of Rs 50,000 to Mamtha’s family. The remaining Rs 9.5 lakh will be distributed after the family submits the necessary documents to the forest department.
Hosur Forest Division DFO K Karthikeyani assured the family that the forest department will try to support the school education of children. The ranger said the forest department is taking steps to install solar fencing around the Udedurgam reserved forest.