C'garh: Woman killed; minor girl injured in elephant attack

A 25-year-old woman was killed and her five-year-old niece injured when a wild elephant attacked their house in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, a forest official said on Thursday.

The incident took place in Bodrapara village under Etmanagar forest range late on Wednesday night, said Shama Faruque, divisional forest officer of Katghora forest division.

A tusker tried to destroy a wall of a mud house and attacked the family while they were sleeping, she said.

While a villager identified as Jaikaran managed to escape, the pachyderm picked up his wife Chandrika Bai and slammed her on the ground, killing her on the spot, the official said.

The deceased woman's niece was injured while fleeing the spot and is currently undergoing treatment at a primary health centre, she said.

An instant relief of Rs 25,000 has been given to the kin of the deceased, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.

75 lakh will be released after the completion of formalities, the official added.

A herd of 40 elephants has been roaming in the area for the last few months and villagers have been shifted to anganwadi centres and school buildings from their mud houses, she said.

The victim's family had also been evacuated, but they returned to their home recently, the official said.

Forest personnel have been tracking the herd and taking measures to prevent human-elephant conflicts, she said.

READ | Elephant Dies After Coming In Contact With Livewire In Bengal

READ | Chhattisgarh: Elephant Electrocuted In Jashpur; Couple Held