COIMBATORE/NILGIRIS: Two persons, including an unidentified woman aged between 55 and 60, were killed in separate wild elephant attacks in Coimbatore and the Nilgiris districts over the weekend.
According to forest sources, in the first incident, Pollachi Forest Range staff found the body of an unidentified woman in Kovilkadu area near Sarkarpathi on Sunday. Based on the condition, she is suspected to have been trampled to death by a wild elephant.
“We suspect that the incident could have occurred in the early hours of Sunday, as locals heard the woman screaming. We received information from fire and rescue services personnel and subsequently alerted the police, who shifted her body to the Vettaikaranpudur Government Hospital. As the woman was reportedly roaming alone and was suspected to have been mentally ill, we are investigating to establish her identity,” said a forest official from Pollachi Forest Range.
In the second incident, a 59-year-old tea estate worker died after being attacked by a wild elephant at Kotagiri in the Nilgiris district.
The deceased was identified as M Duraisamy (59), a resident of Pathimattam in Konavakorai village, who worked at a private tea estate.
A wild elephant grazing in a thicket attacked Duraisamy when he was heading to the tea factory for night duty around 8.15 pm.
The victim sustained severe injuries and was immediately shifted to the Kotagiri Government Hospital. However, he died without responding to treatment around 9 pm.
“We provided immediate financial assistance of `50,000 to the victim’s family. We had been monitoring elephant movements and had already instructed people to exercise caution while walking.
However, the deceased approached the animal at close quarters and, given his age, was unable to escape. The elephant pushed him to the ground, causing a head injury. He subsequently died at Kotagiri GH,” said an official from Kotagiri Forest Range.
Tusker found dead in Masinagudi Forest Range
A male wild elephant was found dead at Kurumbar Pallam near Mavanalla beat in Masinagudi Forest Range of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Saturday. “Our frontline staff spotted the carcass of the elephant during a routine patrol around 2.30 pm on Saturday. The postmortem was conducted on Sunday, and the animal was found to have died of natural causes. We later buried the carcass,” said an official from the Masinagudi Forest Range.
