10-Year-Old Girl Trampled To Death In Elephant Attack

A 10-year-old girl was trampled to death by a parade of wild elephants who went on a rampaging spree in an agricultural hamlet in India on Monday.

The horrific incident happened when a herd of 15 elephants ran amok the village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, destroying crops and houses, reported British Asia.

According to the villagers, the elephants raided the paddy fields and damaged the crops before entering the houses.

The victim’s house was attacked and the walls were completely destroyed. The victim, identified as Sunaina, daughter of Jagjivan Ram, was crushed to death when the family ran for shelter.

Although Sunaina was rushed to the nearest hospital, she did not survive the attack. The girl’s body was handed over to her parents after autopsy.

Divisional Forest Officer M.P. Singh said that they have initiated measures to provide financial assistance to the victim’s family. “The most unfortunate aspect of this attack was the killing of a minor girl,” he told IANS.

The forest officials have send back the herd to a nearby wildlife sanctuary. The officials said that this was the second time they faced the issue in a fortnight.

A team of forest officials, along with the police, have camped in the area. Chief Forest Official Mohd Zaheer Mirza assured the villagers that his team was monitoring the area as there is a possibility of another attack.

In a similar incident in August, two farmers were killed in an elephant attack in the southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu, reported Times of India.

The officials identified the deceased, who were killed while working in their farms, as Muniraj, 28, and Rajendran, 41.

According to the villagers, a lone elephant attacked the duo and lifted them with its trunk and flung them on the ground.

In 2018, BBC reported a worrying trend of taking selfies with wild elephants from the eastern Indian state of Orissa. As per the report, taking photos provoked jumbos to attack humans and in many cases, people died in such attacks.

It is estimated that in the year 2018, 227 people were killed by wild elephants in 16 States in India, with the state of Assam reporting the highest number (86), reported The Hindu. As of now, there are about 27,000 wild elephants in India.