Elephants trample woman to death in Palamu Tiger Reserve

A 52-year-old woman was trampled to death by elephants near Maromar, one of the famous tourist destinations of Palamau Tiger Reserve, on Wednesday. She had entered the reserve forest to graze cattle when she was allegedly attacked and killed by wild elephants.

The family members found the mutilated body of Radhika Devi, 50, from Dhamdhamia forest inside Maromar forest of Baresanrh compartment of the tiger reserve during a search on Wednesday morning.

The Maromar and Baresanrh region is considered to be the capital of jumbos of the Palamau Tiger reserve.

The deceased woman’s son Sanjay Yadav said, “My mother has gone into jungle to graze cattle on Tuesday, but failed to return home by the evening. We launched a search in the nearby areas but no avail.”

“On Wednesday morning, we found her dead body and the spot showed footprints of elephants,” he pointed out.

On getting information, the forest range officer of Garu (West) Ashok Kumar Singh visited the family members and handed over Rs 25 thousand as the first installment of compensation to them. The victims of elephants’ attack are entitled for a compensation of Rs 4 lakh as per the government notification.

Palamu Tiger Reserve deputy director (South division) Mahalinga said, “It could not be immediately established as to one elephant or a herd was involved in the incident.”

“The family will be handed over the remaining compensation after the postmortem report arrives,” the deputy director pointed out.

A recent census estimated that the number of elephants in the reserve has fallen from 238 in 2012 to 186 in 2017. Other inhabitants of the reserve – which accommodates 47 kinds of mammals and 174 species of birds in a territory extending over 1,129 sq km – have also suffered drastic decline in population.

First Published: Nov 22, 2018 09:30 IST