An 80-year-old woman was killed after being trampled by a tusker near the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district on Sunday, marking the third such fatality in the region within a month, officials said. The victim, Kuwariya Devi, a resident of Bhawanipur village in the Katarni forest range, had gone to graze her goats near the forest edge around 11 am when the incident occurred.
According to Divisional Forest Officer Apoorva Dixit, the woman had entered the forest area while searching for a stray goat when the elephant attacked her, leading to her death on the spot. Despite her cries for help, and efforts by nearby farmers to drive the animal away, the tusker reportedly stayed at the location for some time before retreating into the forest.
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Locals claimed the same elephant had damaged crops in a nearby field earlier in the day. Police and forest officials reached the spot soon after and sent the body for post-mortem. An immediate assistance of 10,000 rupees has been provided to the victim’s family, while the process to release an ex-gratia compensation of 5 lakh rupees is underway. The incident has triggered panic among villagers following similar recent attacks.
