Man, 6-Year-Old Daughter Trampled To Death By Elephant In Chhattisgarh

A 25-year-old man and his minor daughter were killed when an elephant attacked their house in Chhattisgarh's Koriya district, a forest official said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday night in Belgaon village under Manendragarh forest range when a wild tusker entered the under-construction house of Gulab Singh Gond and trampled him and his 6-year-old daughter Shanu to death, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Loknath Patel.

"Gond's wife Sunita managed to escape. The elephants destroyed the under-construction house, and were finally driven away by neighbours and a forest team that arrived there. The pachyderms had come from Madhya Pradesh and have returned," he said.

"The forest department had alerted villagers about the movement of a herd of 10 elephants through loudspeakers, but the family of the victims couldn't get information as their house is located in the jungle," Patel added.

The family of the victims were provided immediate aid of Rs 25,000 each, while the remaining compensation will be disbursed on completion of necessary formalities, the official said.

The Surguja division, comprising Surguja, Jashpur, Koriya, Balrampur and Surajpur districts as well as areas in Korba and Raigarh of Bilaspur division have been witnessing such elephant-human conflicts for years, leading to several deaths and damage to property.

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