Bahraich, 22 March (HS): On

Sunday, an 80-year-old woman was crushed to death by a tusker near the

Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, the third

such incident in the region since last month, according to officials. Kuwariya

Devi, a resident of Bhawanipur village in the Katarnia forest range, was

grazing her goats along the forest border at 11 a.m. when the event occurred,

according to officials. The woman went seeking for one of her goats who

had wandered into the forest. She was attacked and trampled by a tusker,

resulting in her death on the spot, Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Apoorva Dixit said.

According

to locals, despite the woman's calls for aid and efforts by adjacent farmers to

drive the elephant away, the elephant lingered at the scene for some time

before retiring into the wild. Villagers also said that the same tusker had

harmed crops in an adjacent field earlier that morning. Police and forest

department officers arrived at the scene and transported the body for

post-mortem examination. The relatives of the dead has received immediate

assistance of Rs 10,000, according to the DFO, who also stated that processes

are being completed to disburse the ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh in accordance with

government guidelines.

She

also encouraged the residents to stay watchful.

The

tragic event has created concern among villagers, who have lately experienced

two similar attacks. On February 14, a 45-year-old Lakhimpur lady was slain on

the Mihinpurwa-Lakhimpur route, and on February 15, an elderly ascetic was

killed in Karikot village.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi