Kerala: Protest intensifies over death of elderly woman by wild elephant in Idukki

An elderly woman was killed in a wild elephant attack at Neriamangalam on Monday (Mar 4). An all-party meeting has been scheduled to address the issue of wildlife attacks in Idukki.

Idukki: An elderly woman was killed in a wild elephant attack at Neriamangalam on Monday (Mar 4). The deceased is identified as Indira Ramakrishnan (70) from Kanjiraveli in Idukki district. The protests are intensifying over the death of a woman under the leadership of Congress leaders. The protest is being led by Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose, Mathew Kuzhalnadan, the DCC President, and others.

The protests demanded that the Forest Minister come directly and give an assurance that there would be no further danger due to wild animal attacks. Indira was harvesting arrowroot on her farm around 9 am when she was attacked by a wild elephant. Tragically, she passed away while being transported to the hospital. 

Reports indicate that the elephant had traversed from Ernakulam district to Idukki district via the Periyar river before being chased away by locals. The pursuit continued from both sides of the river, leading the elephant to cross over to the Neriyamangalam side. Over the past two months, the Munnar Division has witnessed the tragic loss of five lives due to wild elephant attacks.

An all-party meeting has been scheduled to address the issue of wildlife attacks in Idukki. The meeting is set to take place on the morning of March 9, where proposals for resolving the problem, including the formulation of a specific action plan, will be discussed. The Forest Minister has instructed the Idukki District Collector to organize and oversee the meeting.