Rourkela: An elderly woman survived an elephant attack in Kantara village Sunday following the presence of mind of a person who happens to be a member of the forest protection squad. Reportedly, it is the same rogue tusker that has been separated from its herd and has been roaming alone. According to information, the old woman Tuni Munda, 55, wife of Gharisharam Munda, was in her house in Kantara village when the incident took place. Her husband was away at that time. Tuni was cooking when the rogue elephant barged into the ‘kachcha’ house after breaking a portion of the wall. The elephant pulled her out and bashed her on the ground.
Luckily, however, the impact was not fatal just because there was not enough space to lift her to a height. Meanwhile, Tuni and her neighbours raised an alarm and fortunately, someone called the forest squad member Bhairab Mahanata. Mahanta focused the headlight of his bike from a distance and others kept on shouting. All the commotion scared the elephant and it ran away from the scene. Later Tuni was shifted to a vehicle and was taken to the local hospital. The doctor there found out that her thigh bone was broken and she was shifted to Koira for further treatment, where her condition was stated to be stable. This is the fourth attempt by the same elephant to attack the Munda couple’s house. All are surprised that it is repeatedly targeting the house.
Meanwhile, a member of the forest squad Mahanta said, “She will get all the financial help that is due in such cases.” Elephant menace has been haunting the entire Bonai Division for the last month or more. On occasion, elephants even enter the villages during the daytime. On August 14, two elephants separated from the herd and entered Talita and Kansar village under Bonai forest division during the day. The two elephants got separated from their herd some three weeks back during a drive, informed a forest official. Since then all efforts to unite them or drive them away have failed and the two are creating havoc in the locality. Sometimes they sneak away to Jharkhand and again come back after some days. On August 30 the duo again broke houses in Kuderma and Kileiposh areas.
