The heart-wrenching incident from Kerala, where a pregnant elephant was killed after it was fed a pineapple filled with firecrackers, has elicited strong responses from all over the nation. Celebrities including cricketer Virat Kohli and actor Akshay Kumar have taken social media to condemn this heinous act and demand that people responsible for this are brought to justice. Veteran businessman and philanthropist Ratan Tata has joined them in expressing his grief and shock over the incident in a moving social media post.
In a post on Twitter, the Tata Sons' Chairman Emeritus said, "I am grieved and shocked to know that a group of people caused the death of an innocent, passive, pregnant elephant by feeding the elephant with a pineapple filled with firecrackers. Such criminal acts against innocent animals are no different than acts of meditated murder against other humans."
"Justice needs to prevail," Tata wrote.
— Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) June 3, 2020
The elephant was allegedly fed a pineapple with firecrackers inside leading to her death in Silent Valley Forest on May 27. The firecrackers exploded in her mouth when she chomped on the fruit. The Kerala government on Wednesday said a wildlife crime investigation team will probe the brutal killing, while the Centre took a serious note of the incident and sought a report from the state.