Villager killed by mother of dead elephant calf in Jhargram district

MIDNAPORE: Villagers’ zeal to photograph a dead elephant calf on their mobiles led its mother to kill one of them in Jhargram’s Lalgarh on Friday.
The incident happened around 10.30am at Pakhibandh on a bank of river Kasai. A herd of Dalma elephants had been roaming around the forest and sc-reaming since Thursday night. Villagers thought it wise not to venture out of their homes.
One in the herd gave birth in the village adjoining Pakhibandh forest, but the calf died soon after. When the mother started screaming, villagers came out and started photographing the dead calf. That also drew residents of adjoining vi-llages like Bandhgarh. Among them was Sailen Mahato (33).
The angry mother started chasing the villagers who had been clicking the carcass. Though most of them escaped, she caught up with Sailen, lifted him with her trunk and threw him to the ground. She then returned to her dead calf.
Villagers rushed Sailen to Lalgarh hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. DFO (Midnapore division) Sandip Kumar Berwal said: “We sent the carcass of the elephant calf for post-mortem. We have initiated the process of compensating kin of the villager killed by the elephant.”