Tamil Nadu: Mahout, kavadi booked for thrashing jumbo at rejuvenation camp

COIMBATORE/VIRUDHANAGAR: A mahout and kavadi (mahout’s assistant) were booked and the mahout suspended after a video of the duo beating a cow elephant inside the 48-day annual rejuvenation camp for jumbos at Thekkampatti was shared on social media. 

The assault on the animal, that was seen tied, created a furore, more so as it occurred at the camp aimed to nurture captive elephants back to good health. 

The mahout Vinil Kumar and his assistant Siva Prasath have been booked under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and Vinil Kumar has been suspended by the Srivilliputhur Nachiyar Thirukovil temple administration. Siva Prasath is not an employee of the temple. 

In the video, shot by a visitor to the camp on his mobile phone on Saturday evening, Vinil Kumar and Siva Prasath are seen repeatedly beating the jumbo, Jeymalyatha of the Srivilliputhur Nachiyar Thirukovil, on her hind legs. 

When questioned by officials from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, the duo reportedly claimed that the animal had tried to trample them and they had to use force to bring her under control.

TW : Violence, Attack, Animal Cruelty
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After a video showing #Srivilliputhur temple elephant Jeyamalyatha being attacked by two persons at the elephant camp in Kovai came to the notice of the temple administration, the mahout has been suspended. @VinodhArulappan @xpresstn pic.twitter.com/AdMMrlbDOJ

— azeefa (@AzeefaFathima) February 21, 2021

After the video went viral, representatives of NGOs, including the Nature Conservation Society (NCS) Wildlife Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT), Environmental Conservation Group (ECG), and Coimbatore Nature Conservation Trust, met the district forest officer and submitted a petition demanding action against the two men.

President of NCS NI Jalaluddin said the mahout and kavady had ill-treated the jumbo, who could be heard in the video trumpeting in pain. Further, he alleged that the animal husbandry department had not responded to their complaint on the issue.

An official in the HR&CE Department said that the forest department and animal husbandry department had been asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident. 

District Forest Officer D Venkatesh said range officers Palaniraja (Mettupalayam) and Manokaran (Karamadai) were tasked with probing the incident. 

Both, the mahout and the assistant have been taken to Mettupalayam forest range for interrogation, he added. 

Meanwhile, sources in Srivilliputhur said that the 45-year-old Vinil Kumar had been elephant’s mahout since it was brought to the temple in 2011. The temple administration has embarked on consultations to a new mahout for the jumbo.