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Elephant tramples 60-year-old to death
According to the forest officials, on Saturday morning the elderly farmer went for work when he passed through Nishani Betta
Madikeri:
A 60-year-old farmer was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Nishani Betta trekking trail on the outskirts of Madikeri, said forest officials.
The officials identified the deceased as Appachha, a farmer from Varada village.
According to the forest officials, on Saturday morning the elderly farmer went for work when he passed through Nishani Betta.
“When he did not return home till evening, the family members and villagers started searching for him, but could not track him down. On Sunday morning, some trekkers from Bengaluru found his body on the footpath to Nishani Betta, and alerted the forest officials,” said Madikeri deputy conservator of forests, B Bhaskar.
A team of forest officials rushed to the spot and confirmed that the man was trampled to death by an elephant. His body was sent to Madikeri government hospital for an autopsy after which it was handed over to his family, said the official.
“We will provide a compensation of ₹15 lakh to the family of the deceased. Our elephant task force staff noticed two to three elephants roaming in the area, and we will drive them deep inside the forest,” added Bhaskar.
Kodagu district that lies on the border of Karnataka and Kerala has witnessed a rise in human-elephant conflict in recent times.
On September 4, an elephant attacked and fatally wounded Girish (35), a member of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) tasked with managing elephant-related issues in the Anekadu forest area.
Just a week ago, on August 27, another life was claimed by a similar incident. A 60-year-old farmer Erappa was killed by an elephant in Adinadur village of Somavapet town. Erappa had ventured out to search for his milking cow when he was attacked by an elephant near Gowri Gaddhe.
On August 20, a 63-year-old woman, Aisha, was fatally attacked by an elephant while she was walking near her residence in Badaga Barangala village of Virajpet town.
Just a week before Aisha’s death, a tractor driver fell victim to an elephant attack.
