Meghalaya: Elephant tramples woman to death, injures another woman

A 46-year-old woman was killed while another was grievously injured in a wild elephant attack in Garo Hills, Meghalaya.

The deceased woman has been identified as Chetmilla Marak.

According to the wildlife department sources, on March 27 morning, Chetmilla Marak along with her two friends–Etmila Marak (44) and Merita Sangma had gone for jhum cultivation when they were chased by the elephant at Nabangdagre village near Kherapara under West Garo Hills.

Merita ran in the opposite direction of the elephant and escaped uninjured, while Etmila and Chetmilla were not fortunate enough because the elephant chased them.

Both Etmila and Chetmila received serious injuries. They both were rushing to a nearby hospital immediately. However, Chetmila succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital and Etmila is currently undergoing treatment.

On receiving information of the incident, a wildlife team rushed to the spot and provided vigil in the village but could not trace the elephant.

The place where the incident happened is part of the famed elephant corridor and has seen numerous cases of elephants causing havoc in the region.

Notably, the area where the incident took place had previously been heavily forested but had recently been cut down and burned for jhum cultivation (A farming process in which an area of land or forest is cleared, burned, and then used for cultivation).

Habitat loss of the elephants due to jhumming activities across Garo Hills has led the elephants to gather near human shelters in search of food.

“As long as their habitat loss continues, elephants will continue coming in search of food in human shelters. Huge tracts of forests are destroyed every year due to jhumming activities and this has led to more frequent encounters with the pachyderms,” said a highly placed wildlife source from Garo Hills.

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