Elephant kills two women in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district

Raigarh, May 11 (PTI) Two women were trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, a forest official said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday night in Bhadaranpur village under the Dharamjaigarh forest range when the victims were asleep outside their houses because of summer heat, he said.

The tusker first attacked Ghasiya Ram Yadav (35) and his wife Sushila (30), killing the woman at the scene, he said.

Her husband sustained injuries and was admitted to the local hospital later.

The same elephant then crushed to death another woman, identified as Sunita Lohara (45), in the village, he said.

After being alerted, forest personnel reached the village and sent the bodies for post-mortem on Sunday morning, the official said.

The victims’ family members were provided an instant relief of Rs 25,000 each, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh each will be given after completing necessary formalities, he said.

The jumbo is part of a herd of 21 elephants roaming in the Lailunga forest range, he added.

Human-elephant conflicts were a major cause for concern in Chhattisgarh in the last decade, especially in northern parts. Now, such incidents have been reported in some districts of the central region in the last few years.

The most-affected districts are Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Balod, Balrampur and Kanker.

According to forest officials, around 320 people have been killed in elephant attacks in the state in the last five years. PTI COR NR