Tusker tramples woman in Belur

HASSAN: A woman working in her field was trampled by a tusker at Devarahalli in Belur taluk here on Wednesday morning while her husband managed to escape from the animal.

The victim was identified as Pushpa (40), wife of Thakur Singh. When the tusker attacked them, Thakur screamed for help and fellow villagers rushed to their help but it was too late as the jumbo had trampled Pushpa. The tusker later mauled two calves and left them to drown in a tank before fleeing the spot.

Deputy Conservator of Forests Sivaram Babu told Deccan Chronicle: "It is surprising that a tusker has attacked and killed a woman in Belur which does not have any incident of human-elephant conflict." He suspects that the tusker which killed Pushpai could have come from Chikkamagaluru.

Meanwhile, fear gripped residents of Malali village about two km from Sakleshpur town, a chronic human-elephant conflict area in Hassan after a tusker was sighted passing through the village. Noticing the tusker, residents confined themselves to their houses while students who were about to go to school too remained indoors.

Explaining the precautionary measures, Mr Sivaram Babu said hand held microphones are given to forest staff to alert residents about elephant movement in the vicinity. "We have asked for radio-collars which can be tied to the leaders of the herds so that more elephant families can be tracked on a regular basis," he said.