Lone tusker kills two women in Krishnagiri

Krishnagiri: Two women were trampled to death by a lone tusker in two different villages near Denkanikottai on Sunday morning.
The deceased have been identified as A Vasanthamma, 37, of Anniyalam, and V Hasthamma, 45, of Dasarapalli.
Forest officials said that the first incident took place at Anniyalam when Vasanthamma was going to her workplace around 7am.“The tusker suddenly appeared in front of the victim and trampled her, killing her on the spot,” K Suresh, one of the villagers, said.
After chased by villagers at Anniyalam, the tusker entered Dasarapalli village, where it trampled Hasthamma to death after she came out of her house for work.
“She died on the spot,” said her husband P Venkatesh, 50. The elephant also killed two cows in the village, he added.
Irate villagers from both Anniyalam and Dasarapalli gathered before the forest office at Denkanikottai. They demanded the forest department to chase the jumbo into the deep forest.
The wildlife warden of the Hosur forest division, K Karthikeyani, and other officials pacified the protesters. “The elephant is new to the area and our officials are tracking it,” Karthikeyani said. She assured the protesters that the tusker would be chased into the deep forest at the earliest. Four teams with 10 staff each have been formed to monitor the elephant.
Thally CPI MLA T Ramachandran who joined the protest claimed that the two casualties could have been averted if the forest officials properly monitored the elephant and alerted the villagers.
The traffic between the Thally-Denkanikottai stretch was affected for nearly two hours because of the protest.