Kerala: Rahul Gandhi visits families of elephant attack victims in Wayanad
Congress MP from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi visited families of wild animal attack victims in the district on Sunday (Feb 18). He arrived in Wayanad today taking a break from the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
FollowWayanad: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday (Feb 18) reached the residence of VP Paul, a Forest Department watcher, who was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Wayanad last week. He spoke to the victim's family and extended condolences to the grieved family. The "Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra" had abruptly stopped by him to meet those impacted by the conflict between humans and animals.
Kerala: Man dies after being attacked by elephant herd in Wayanad
He initially arrived at the home of Ajeesh, a farmer who was killed at Chaligada by the wild elephant Belur Makhna. The Wayanad MP's visit occurred the day after a violent protest against the Kerala government and the forest department for their failure to adequately safeguard residents from attacks by wild animals took place in the area.
Gandhi went to Pulpally from Ajeesh's home to visit the family of Paul, a tour guide who died from wounds he received while being assaulted by a herd of wild elephants at Kuruva island. The MP was escorted by K C Venugopal, general secretary of the AICC. He travelled to Moodakolly to see the family of Prajeesh, who was mauled to death by a tiger, after seeing Paul's family at Pulpally's Pakkom.
Gandhi has also written a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting decisive action over the incident.
Shaly, Paul's wife, spoke with the media and asked for compensation from the government. According to Paul's daughter, the Government Medical College in Manathavady needs to build sufficient facilities to save lives in Wayanad.
Following a review meeting with the district administration here, Gandhi spoke with the media and said he had tried to talk to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan this morning about the matter, however, he was not accessible.
The MP remarked, "I want to assess him directly on what the people of Wayanad are going through."
He asked that the district authorities expedite the processes to provide compensation to the relatives of the deceased during the meeting.
“ The administration should act aggressively to provide compensation to the families. When a family member who is the breadwinner dies, poor families will be affected completely. So, the compensation should not be given after months. They should get financial aid immediately,” said Rahul Gandhi.
