Massive protest after man trampled to death by wild tusker

Kuttampuzha on Tuesday witnessed a massive protest by local people over the death of a man in a wild elephant attack on Monday night.

Eldhose, 45, was trampled to death by a wild tusker at Urulanthanni in Pinavoorkudy ward in Kuttampuzha panchayat, near Kothamangalam, while walking home after reaching the area by a KSRTC bus.

A hartal was observed in Kuttampuzha panchayat and the Kothamangalam town under the aegis of the Janakeeya Samara Samithi in protest against the alleged apathy of the government and the Forest department, which the samithi alleged led to the tragic incident.

Angry villagers had staged a protest in the area for hours on Monday night alleging Forest officials’ lack of effective interventions to address the human-animal conflict.

They did not allow the authorities to shift Eldose’s body from the place till the early hours of Tuesday, demanding adequate compensation to his family and a permanent solution to the increasing human-animal conflict.

District Collector N.S.K. Umesh and people’s representatives also had to face the heat of the villagers’ protest. At one point, the Collector even had to request the angry people with folded hands to allow the shifting of the body to the hospital.

The body was then taken to the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamassery, on Tuesday around 2.30 a.m. only after the Collector assured to meet the villagers’ major demands of restoring the solar fencing, digging trench in the affected areas of Pinavoorkudy ward and repair the streetlights along the stretch.

The Collector also promised to hold a meeting on December 27 to review the progress of the implementation of the promised measures. Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran also promised to implement the measures in a time-bound manner.

By the time Eldose’s body was released after post-mortem around 11.45 a.m., the Neriamangalam forest range had started the initial work of digging trench along the 8-km-long stretch in the ward as promised by the Collector.

Eldose was laid to rest at the cemetery of the Mar Thoma Church, Chelad, a small hamlet in the Kothamangalam block on Tuesday evening.

His body was kept at his home at Valiya Knachary in Kuttampuzha for the people to pay homage. His parents and sister were inconsolable as they sat by his casket grieving.

The funeral was followed by a protest march taken out by the samithi from the Kothamangalam town to the Divisional Forest Officer’s office where a public meeting was held. People’s representatives, political party leaders and the office-bearers of the Church participated.

A cheque for half the compensation amount of ₹10 lakh was handed over to the family straight away while demand was also made to give a government job to the deceased’s sister.

Published - December 17, 2024 07:51 pm IST