Woman trampled to death in Chikkamagaluru: Protesters gherao MLA

A 45-year-old woman was trampled to death by an elephant at an estate in Kundoor in Mudigere taluk of Chikkamagaluru.

The residents of the area and the family members of the woman staged a protest against the wild elephant menace by keeping the body with them till late night on Sunday.
Former MLA H M Vishwanath said "In spite of an order to capture wild elephants, no steps have been taken to capture them. The authorities should find a permanent solution to the elephant menace."

Hullemane Chandre Gowda, leader of the Raitha Sangha, said "a compensation of Rs 50 lakh should be paid to the family of the victim. The victim's son should be provided a government job on a compassionate ground."

Former minister B B Ningaiah said that the compensation for the victims should be enhanced. DCF Kranthi said that a compensation of Rs two lakh will be paid immediately. A proposal on capturing elephants will be sent to the government.

Later in the night, the family members were convinced and the body was taken to MGM Hospital for post-mortem.

Shobha along with her husband Sathish were cutting grass in the arecanut garden. On noticing the elephant, they tried to run but the elephant trampled Shobha to death by chasing her, said Vijay, an eyewitness.

MLA gheraoed

MLA M P Kumaraswamy who arrived at the protesting site was gheraoed by the protesters. When the situation turned tense, the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowd. In the melee, the MLA's shirt was torn. The police who gave protection to the MLA made him board the police jeep. When the jeep drove away, angry protesters chased the jeep and pelted stones at it.

Kumaraswamy alleged that it was a deliberate attack by a group of people. "This is the failure of the police as well. There were only 10 police personnel at the spot.".

In a video statement, he said "I wanted to be at the protesting site. However, the police misled and sent me out from the spot. We are here to serve the people and ready to sacrifice anything.