Plea in HC seeks nod for mercy killing of ill Salem temple elephant

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose, before whom the petition filed by S Muralidharan of Chennai came up, directed the counsel appearing for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department to get instructions and posted the case to Monday for further hearing. 

The petitioner claiming to be an animal lover had submitted that the elephant Rajeshwari was suffering from a serious painful disease condition on its left foreleg, which cannot be cured either medically or surgically.

Moreover, it was also impaired due to other health conditions, including multiple disease conditions of the foot and painful abscesses on her right hip and elbow. 

Noting that under such conditions, the elephant was balancing itself and standing using only three legs leading to arthritis, the petitioner further submitted that over a month ago she went down and due to constant lying down on one side it had developed bedsores which had become severe and started decaying. 

In the process of treating it, the veterinarians involved merely experimented on the elephant and indulged in using an earthmover to make it stand by lifting her.