Mahout stoned by elephant in Mangottukavu Bhagavathy temple dies
The elephant, Ithippuzha, had run amok during an illegal parade at a temple fest.
Thrissur: A mahout who was attacked by an elephant at Mangottukavu Bhagavathy temple near Alathur in Palakkad 10 days ago succumbed to his injuries at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Monday. The deceased is Babu aka Kuttan, 47 from near Kottayam. The elephant, Ithippuzha, had run amok during an illegal parade at a temple fest. It lifted a heavy stone with its trunk and threw it on his head causing internal head injuries on April 21. Babu was in the ICU since then. V.K. Venkitachalam, secretary of pro-animal Heritage Animal Task Force based here, said on Tuesday that the elephant was in musth when it was paraded.
“It is one of the 427 elephants kept by illegal elephant contractors in Kerala without ownership certificates. It killed two mahouts in 2007 and 2010. Its original name is Kodumon Gajendran which was earlier kept by the late Kodumon Kunjhumon,” he added. The task force has also demanded the registration of a case against the festival organizers, forest department officials and the elephant owner for parading an elephant which was unfit. Besides, the authorities had also put the lives of several hundreds of devotees at risk, he said.