8-year-old girl who got left behind trampled to death by herd of wild elephants

Forest officials said the incident took place in Athiabari area under the Kachugaon forest division when the herd came out and demolished some houses

SILCHAR: A herd of wild elephants went on a rampage in Assam’s Kokrajhar and trampled to death an eight-year-old girl who was left behind when the elephants entered her village, people familiar with the matter said.

Officials said the wild elephants may have entered the village due to the banana plants in the village (PTI FILE PHOTO)

The girl was identified by the police as Sani Mardi, a class 3 student. Her body was recovered and sent for autopsy, said Kokrajhar superintendent of police Pushpraj Singh.

Forest officials said the incident took place in Athiabari area under the Kachugaon forest division, an elephant reserve, when the herd came out and demolished some houses, reportedly in search for food. Everyone ran to safety when the elephants came but the girl unfortunately got left behind and was trampled to death, a local resident said. Forest officials came to the spot and later informed the police too.

“We are assuming that in this case, the elephants were attracted by banana plants along with the houses in the residential areas,” an official said.

A local resident said they frequently suffered due to the wild elephants. “Most of us are farmers and we face losses because wild elephants destroy crops in search of food… Sometimes they attack our houses.,” the person said.