Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court on Friday hauled up Guruvayur Devaswom after disturbing visuals of elephants being thrashed at Punathur Anakotta (elephant yard) went viral on social media.
The HC sought to know from the Guruvayur Devaswom board who was the in-charge of the Punathur Annakotta and whether any action had been taken against those who mistreated the elephants. The court directed the Devaswom board to comply strictly with all orders issued inconnection with the protection of elephants. It also asked the authorities to take strong action against those who mistreat the elephants.
The authorities were directed to install CCTV cameras in the elephant yard.
The court directed the Punathurkota deputy administrator to file an affidavit by Tuesday and the action taken so far.
The court's intervention came in the wake of a petition filed by Sangeeta Iyer, the founder of hte Asian Elephants Society.
Earlier two mahouts at the Punathur Anakkotta as part of Guruvayur Devaswom, were suspended for torturing elephants including a jumbo presented to the temple by late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalaltiha.
The video of the mouhouts torturing two elephants went viral on social media on Thursday morning , triggering widespread protests from different sections.
Though the incident is believed to have taken place a month ago at the Thekke Nada Sheeveli ground, it came into the public domain only now.
The mahouts had used the Vadikkol (a stick used for taming elephants) to thrash the elephants continuously. One of the video footage showed a mahour thrashing Krishna, the elephant offered at the temple by the late J Jayalalitha.
