Elephant gores mahout to death at Haripad

An elephant belonging to the Haripad Sree Subrahmanya Swamy temple turned violent around Sunday noon and gored a mahout to death.

The deceased has been identified as Muraleedharan Nair, 53, of Edapponmuri, near Nooranad, in Alappuzha.

Sunil Kumar, 40, of Karunagappally in Kollam, an assistant mahout who sustained serious injuries in the elephant attack, is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Thiruvalla.

Skandan, the elephant, first trampled and injured Sunil Kumar. Muraleedharan Nair was gored by the elephant during efforts to bring it under control. Though both the mahouts were rushed to the hospital, Muraleedharan Nair succumbed to his injuries on Sunday night.

The elephant had been tethered since March since it was in musth and was taken out only on Sunday. After a visit to the temple, it was taken to the Tantric family at Padinjare Pullamvazhi. There, the animal knocked down Pradeep, its main mahout. At that time, Sunil Kumar was on its back. The elephant, which had been standing calmly, suddenly turned violent, pulled Sunil Kumar down with its trunk, and trampled him.

After Sunil Kumar was rushed to the hospital, mahouts from the nearby temples gathered and tried to safely move the elephant to the shed. The animal was restrained with chains and ropes before being shifted. During this time, Muraleedharan Nair mounted the elephant. As it reached the northern gate of Valia Kottaram, the elephant pulled him down with its trunk and gored him. The animal remained on the road and was shifted to the shed after several hours of effort.

Later, a Devaswom veterinary doctor administered a tranquiliser injection to the elephant and brought it under control.

Critical

Sunil Kumar, who sustained injuries to his stomach, remains in critical condition. The Haripad police have registered a case of unnatural death and launched an investigation.

A few years ago, Skandan had gored another mahout, Jayamon, to death.