Mother Elephant Turns Violent After Death of Calf, Tramples Two Men in Bengal

Kolkata: Aggrieved by the death of its calf by drowning in the Subarnarekha river, a mother elephant turned violent chased and killed two elderly villagers at Nayagarm village of Jhargram district in West Bengal on Wednesday.

Both deceased were part of a crowd that had gathered to watch the activities of the angry female elephant.

The elephant, trumpeting in despair after the death of the six-month-old calf, got agitated at the sight and shout of the crowd.

It charged at the crowd, lifted Ananda Jana, 73, and Sashadhar Mahato, 63, repeatedly with its trunk and hurled them to the ground before trampling them to death.

The calf of this angry elephant fell into a ditch on the riverbed, while the herd crossed the river. The mother elephant found the calf, and pulled it out with its trunk, but became angry when realised that the calf was dead.

The elephant turned its attention to the village road where it damaged a motorbike and tried to overturn a bus parked on the road.

The Bengal government has a policy of paying a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and offering the job of a forest guard to a member of the family of a person killed in an elephant attack.