A 54-year-old woman was allegedly killed by a 10-year-old male rogue elephant at Bodinatham village, near Katpadi, in Vellore on Thursday.
Forest officials said B. Vasantha, a dairy farmer, lived with her husband S. Balakrishnan, 60, near a hillock on the outskirts of the village. Around 5 a.m. on Thursday, she was woken up by a noise from the cattle shed and saw the elephant damaging the shed. The elephant noticed her and flung her away. Mr. Balakrishnan, with the help of neighbours, admitted Vasantha to the primary healthcare centre near Katpadi, where she was declared brought dead. A case has been filed by the police.
Meanwhile, a large number of forest officials led by S. Kalanidhi, District Forest Officer (DFO), Vellore, led the elephant into the thick forests along the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border. The elephant was seen roaming in the nearby villages. Two kumki elephants from the Nanilaya Elephant Camp in Kuppam were roped in to chase the rogue elephant into the forest. After this failed, the rogue elephant was sedated by a team of forest officials and veterinarians in the evening.
Forest officials said the rogue elephant was separated from its herd after it came out of the Kaundinya Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh a few days ago. Since then, it has been roaming the villages located on the fringes of reserve forests along the elephant corridor. The elephant will be relocated to Sri Venkateswara Wildlife Sanctuary in Tirupati by road.
