Pregnant woman comes face-to-face with wild elephant in Bangalore

Bangalore: A 24-year-old pregnant woman had a narrow escape when she came face-to-face with a wild elephant near the Bannerghatta National Park in Bangalore.

Lakshmma, who is seven-months pregnant, had ventured into the forest to attend nature's call when she came face-to-face with an elephant. She passed out as a result of fear.

The elephant ran into a eucalyptus grove after stray dogs, who had followed Lakshmma into the forest, started barking.  This alerted some factory workers around, who found Lakshmma unconscious and rushed her to the Indira Hospital.

According to forest officials, Lakshmma and her child are fine and a scan showed no signs of external or internal injuries to both. They spoke to her at the hospital and learned that she was not attacked by the elephant, but merely passed out after seeing it.

"It was a lone tusker and efforts were initiated to drive it back into the forest. The department also bore the woman's medical expenses," the forest officials added.

The villagers however were quick to offer a different version claiming that the tusker was inside the eucalyptus grove and it chased Lakshmma, who fell into the thick bushes since she was unable to run. The elephant did not attempt to trample her, villagers told the Bannerghatta police.