Elephant tramples mahout to death in Samayapuram temple

TIRUCHY: The elephant of the famous Mariamman temple at Samayapuram near Tiruchy went wild on Friday and tragically killed its mahout when he tried to control the animal with his ‘elephant goad’. As a result of this incident, the temple was closed for ‘darshan’ to the devotees. It is likely that the ‘darshan’ will resume on Saturday, sources told DC over the phone.

Police said nine-year-old female elephant named ‘Masini’, which was tied to a pillar near the rear entrance of the temple suddenly became restless and started trumpeting loudly.

On seeing the elephant’s unusual behavior, its mahout Gajendran attempted to control the elephant by giving her blow with his ‘goad’ (‘Angusam’) on its front leg. But the elephant turned wild, caught hold of the mahout by its trunk, threw him on the ground and stamped him to death.

The panic-stricken devotees and temple staff ran helter-skelter for their safety. In the melee, at least seven devotees sustained minor injuries. The temple authorities then cleared the large number of devotees inside the sanctum sanctorum. The staff locked all the four gates by leaving the incensed elephant inside the temple complex.

Police rushed to the spot and removed the injured to the hospital and informed the matter to the Forest department. The officials who came to the spot expressed their inability to inject tranquilizer to the elephant to bring it under control. Meanwhile, six other mahouts from nearby temples were rushed to the spot and they managed to bring the elephant under control, by tying the back legs of the elephant.


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