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Rogue tusker in Odisha tramples 5 persons to death
The beast then trampled another woman asleep in front of a neighbouring house. Later, it killed a 70-year-old man who had stepped out to relieve himself in the nearby Santhapada village.
A two-year-old girl and four others were trampled to death by a wild elephant in Odisha’s Angul district on Thursday night, the casualty count being the biggest in a tusker attack in a single day, according to officials familiar with the man-animal conflict in the state.
Kalia Saar, a 40-year-old brick kiln worker of Sandha village, was asleep with his daughters, aged 2 and 12, on the verandah of their house when the elephant crushed them to death, the officials said. The beast then trampled another woman asleep in front of a neighbouring house. Later, it killed a 70-year-old man who had stepped out to relieve himself in the nearby Santhapada village.
Angry over the killings, the residents of the two villages staged a road block on Friday morning, demanding adequate compensation to the family of the deceased. Forest authorities have offered an immediate compensation of ₹40,000 to the surviving members of Saar’s family, including his wife.
At least 92 people were killed by elephants in Odisha in 2018-19, officials said.
“The fragmentation of elephant corridors is forcing wild animals to head towards human habitations,” said Biswajit Mohanty of the Wildlife Society of Odisha.
Officials said the Delhi-based NGO, Wildlife Trust of India, was given ~2.67 crore to prepare an elephant conflict mitigation plan in 2016, but claimed it has yet to submit its final report. Several draft reports have, however, been submitted.
