Forest Department jails mahouts, owner of deceased elephant
| Date :19-Jun-2019 |
The Hitavada State Bureau:
RAIGARH/SARANGARH
Setting an exemplary precedent, Chhattisgarh Forest Department booked and subsequently jailed the mahout and owner of a elephant named ‘Ganga’ for meting out extremely inhumane torture on the animal for their personal gains. The elephant had recently died after being subjected to prolonged cruelty in Sarangarh.
The Forest Department had booked mahout Lalamani Gautam and owner Tarkeshwar under relevant Sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and Prevention of Cruelties against Animal Act. Both of them were produced in the Court, which sent them to six days of Judicial Remand. The tragic demise of elephant aggrieved the Sarangarh denizens, who had become quite familiar with the female elephant as she was being used for vagrancy by the mahout and owner for past many years. She walked miles and miles dispite of wound in the sole of her leg.
The duo had impaired the sight of the elephant. Often kept underfed and dehydrated, elephant’s both kidneys had failed. She was in extreme pain both internally and externally before passing away. Meanwhile, the citizens of Sarangarh organiaed a ‘Sundarkand Recitation’ and Hanuman Chalisa for the peace of deceased soul on Monday. As the news of elephant’s death spread across the Sarangarh town, thousands of people gathered outside the veterinary hospital and carried out her cremation with full Hindu rituals. Wildlife Veterinarian J K Jadia has confirmed that eyes of the elephant were poked with some pointy object to blind her. She wasn’t born blind. She fell unconscious after walking miles with a deep wound. She was deficient of blood and had both kidneys dysfunctional.