Toddler found beside dying mother as elephant kills 2 in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: Forest team that rushed to Talgaon village in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Saturday found a heart-rending scene — a toddler sitting beside her critically injured mother, crying for help after a wild elephant had trampled the woman while the two were fleeing the animal.

The 37-year-old woman later died in hospital, one of two people killed in separate elephant attacks in the district within hours.The deaths have taken the number of fatalities in elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh to three this week, highlighting the worrying human-elephant conflict in the state's northern forest belt.The first incident occurred around 4am in Kapu forest range of Dharamjaigarh forest division when a lone elephant entered the village, sending terrified residents scrambling out of their homes. Amid the chaos, Shakuntala Bai ran out with her toddler daughter, but the elephant charged and trampled her. The child narrowly escaped.Villagers rushed the injured woman to Kapu hospital, where doctors declared her dead during treatment. A video from the village showing the distraught child sitting beside her grievously injured mother before help arrived has brought into focus the human cost of the recurring conflict.

The elephant remained aggressive even after the attack and rammed a forest department vehicle that reached the village, damaging it. No forest personnel were injured. Officials later tracked the animal and issued warnings in nearby villages, asking residents to avoid venturing outdoors in the early morning hours.Barely an hour later, another fatal attack was reported from Auranara village in Chhal forest range. Bandhan Singh Agaria, 50, a daily wage labourer, had stepped out of his house to relieve himself when he came face to face with a wild elephant. The animal attacked him, killing him on the spot, officials said.Forest and police teams reached both villages after receiving information from residents and sent the bodies for post-mortem.Dharamjaigarh divisional forest officer Jitendra Upadhyay told reporters the families of both victims were provided immediate financial assistance of Rs 25,000 each, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh would be released after completion of statutory formalities.The twin deaths spotlights the growing challenge posed by elephant movement across Raigarh district, particularly the Dharamjaigarh region, which, along with Korba, Surguja, Surajpur, Jashpur and Balrampur, remains among the worst affected by human-elephant conflict in Chhattisgarh. Frequent elephant incursions into villages and farmlands have led to repeated loss of human lives, besides extensive crop damage.The latest fatalities come just two days after a 55-year-old man was trampled to death by an elephant while collecting wild mushrooms in Korba district. Last month, the district had also reported the deaths of a 40-year-old cattle herder and a 70-year-old woman in separate elephant attacks.According to forest department data, elephant attacks have claimed the lives of more than 330 people across Chhattisgarh over the past five years, even as the movement of elephant herds has expanded from the traditional northern forest corridor into parts of central Chhattisgarh.