Woman trampled in Digboi

Dibrugarh: An elderly woman was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants at Muliabari housing area at Digboi in Tinsukia district on Sunday morning.

A source said Kumari Rana, 65, had gone for a morning walk around 4.30am when suddenly she came in front of the jumbo herd, which had come out of the Upper Dehing reserve forest, and was trampled to death.

Digboi forest ranger Parineeta Singh said locals informed them about the incident. "The elephants frequently roam near the oil field which falls under Upper Dehing reserve forest east block. They come out of the forest in search of food. We have sent the body for post-mortem and given Rs 5,000 to her family members. After verifying the post-mortem report and other documents, another Rs 4 lakh will be handed to her family," she said.

The victim, a resident of Digboi town, had come to her daughter's house a few days ago.

The man-elephant conflict has been increasing in Upper Assam. On May 12, Phulmoti Pegu was trampled to death by a herd of elephants at Demow in Sivasagar district.

Bijay Gogoi, president of Evergreen Foundation, an NGO, said the human-elephant conflict was increasing owing to shrinking forest cover. "Due to rampant deforestation, the elephants come out of the forests in search of food and enter human habitation," he said.


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