A toddler was discovered crying beside her dying mother after a series of wild elephant attacks in India's Chhattisgarh state left three people dead. The attacks occurred in Raigarh district early Saturday morning, with the first incident taking place in Talgaon village near the Kapu Forest Range at around 4am.
Mother Trampled While Fleeing
The mother, 37-year-old Shakuntala Bai, was among panicked residents fleeing their homes when a wild elephant entered the village. She was trampled and critically injured. Her young daughter narrowly escaped serious injury, according to The Times of India. A forest department team found the girl at her mother's side crying for help.
Bai was rushed to Kapu hospital but succumbed to her injuries during treatment. The elephant continued to act aggressively, ramming and damaging a forest department vehicle. Officials tracked the animal and warned nearby villages to stay indoors.
Second Attack Hours Later
About an hour later, around 5am, a separate elephant attack occurred in Auranara village in the Chhal forest range, roughly 50 miles from Talgaon. Bandhan Singh Agaria, a 50-year-old labourer, stepped outside his home and was fatally attacked. Post-mortem examinations are being conducted on both victims.
Dharamjaigarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Jitendra Upadhyay said families received immediate financial assistance of Rs 25,000 each (approximately £192). The remaining payments of Rs 5.75 lakh (about £4,418) each will be made once statutory formalities are completed.
Rising Death Toll
Days earlier, a man in Korba district was trampled to death, bringing the week's death toll from elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh to three. Elephant attacks remain a major issue in the state, claiming over 330 lives in the past five years. The increase is attributed to overlapping human and elephant habitats, as expanding agriculture and settlements fragment elephant corridors and migration routes.
