CHENNAI: Project Elephant has asked the chief wildlife warden of Tamil Nadu to look into the case of a female elephant being beaten up mercilessly by her mahout and his assistant. It asked the chief wildlife warden (CWLW) to take urgent action under the Wildlife Protection Action, 1972, related states rules and guidelines for care and management of captive elephants.
Project Elephant has also asked CWLW to send a report on this to the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF).
This was done in response to an appeal filed by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) to the forest department of Tamil Nadu, and Project Elephant, an initiative of the MoEF.
In a video, the mahout and his assistant are seen constantly and brutally hitting the elephant with sticks on her front and hind legs. The elephant is seen screaming in pain.
FIAPO has appealed to the authorities to take custody of the elephant --‘Joymala’ or ‘Jeyamalyatha’ -- from the temple and provide her rehabilitation with medical assistance both for physical and mental health. It also appealed to locate the original owner of the elephant holding the ownership certificate and punish him as per law for illegally transferring the animal to a different state and prosecute the culprits under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
As per the Tamil Nadu forest department, Joymala is owned by one Girin Morin of Kakopathur in Tinsukia district of Assam. The elephant was brought from Assam on a six-month lease in 2008 and has been kept at held captive at Andal Temple of Srivilliputhur for the past 13 years.
FIAPO said elephant brutality in TN has been increasing. In 2020, several incidents of elephant brutality occurred, and more than 64 elephants died in the state.