Killer tusker ill-treated

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Megharjunan, the elephant that killed a mahout at the Koodalmanikya temple
festival in Irinjalakkuda collapsed on Friday night due to ill-treatment by the devaswom.

Mahout Devadas 33, was killed by the tusker on Wednesday and after the incident the elephant was brought under control, but chained in a cruel manner in a compound behind the Unnayi Varrier Kalanilayam in the temple premises.

The tusker is barely able to move as its front and hind legs are chained together and it is fastened to a tree.
The elephant is in a terrible condition and is unable to eat, residents complain.

According to Deepak Viswanath a resident of Irinjalakkuda, due to the unavailability of a new mahout the tusker was left in a sad state for the last three days.

He said that since the incident, nobody else had stepped forward to take charge as mahout.

According to Anapremi Sangham, it was unfortunate that the devaswom officials were not taking proper care of the elephant.

The sangham attributed the violent nature of the elephant to the days the elephant spent at a circus.

Sangham added that a total of 72 complaints have been filed before the devaswom over the years regarding the improper care meted out to tuskers.

According to elephant lovers, the only way to save the elephant is to hand it over to the forest department.

The deceased mahout served the devaswom for eight months — the longest term since he was donated to the temple.

Residents alleged that after the incident the temple authorities were busy taking care of the injured mahout and were later involved in his postmortem and other affairs.

Amidst this, the temple authorities forgot to treat the elephant.