Elephant chased back into forest attacks 45-yr-old woman on the way

The victim identified as Vijayalakshmi, from Arivozhi Nagar in Therkkupalayam was injured and was rushed to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) in a critical condition.

A team of forest department were guiding away a herd of elephants which strayed into a residential neighbourhood near Narasimmanaickenpalayam, in Coimbatore suburbs. Unaware of the elephant movement, Vijayalakshmi had stepped out, when one of the wild elephant attacked her. She was heading to Thudiyalur market to sell her farm produce, when the incident occurred.

On hearing Vijayalakshmi’s screams, the forest department staff arrived and immediately rushed the woman to CMCH. Later, the elephant herd were driven into the forest by firing crackers.

A few days ago, a couple had a narrow escape after an elephant accompanied by its two calves tried to break into their tile-roofed house presumably looking for eatables near Kanuvai.

Similarly, the forest department arrived on time to save the couple from the impending danger and chased away the pachyderms. It is to be noted that district Collector TN Hariharan has already written to the forest department in Chennai to capture and relocate problematic wild elephants from the Coimbatore region.

An official from the forest department said that the Chief Wildlife Warden in Chennai has given the nod for capturing and relocating two wild elephants frequently raiding crops and damaging properties. Despite the presence of kumkis, the straying of wild elephants couldn’t be prevented.

“We are monitoring the movement of those two elephants and efforts would be taken to catch them, if required, to mitigate conflicts. This five-member herd of elephants, involved in the attack of the woman were on their migration and not problematic ones,” added an official.