Tamil Nadu: Elephant Kills Caretaker, Relative As They Try To Take Photo In Tiruchendur Temple

In an unfortunate incident, two people were killed after being trampled on by an elephant at Arulmigu Subramanya Swami Temple in Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district.
The elephant's carecare and his relative have been killed in the incident. The incident occurred when they tried to take a picture with the pachyderm, as per a report in The New Indian Express. Sources told the daily that the animal might have got furious after being hit on the trunk.

The deceased are identified as 45-year-old mahout Udhayakumar and 55-year-old Sisubalan of Palukal in Kanniyakumari.

Sisubalan was thrown away by the elephant using its trunk and the mahot was smashed against the wall. They both were killed on the spot.

Talking about the incident, Thoothukudi District Forest Officer Revti Raman told ANI that the elephant had never shown agressive behaviour before.

He said, "This is a 26-year-old female elephant, Deivanai. In general, it's a very polite animal. Such aggressive behaviour has not been reported in past. So, our team of veterinary experts is checking what actually happened and what led to this kind of incident.

So, they are analysing if some intervention is required for their behaviour, we will definitely take all steps to safeguard the health of the animal as well as health of devotees. They should not be impacted...Our team will be seeing the health condition, behaviour, and all other parameters. After that only we can suggest whether these things would be there..."