A gruesome video showing a wild female elephant being set aflame by villagers in West Bengal's Jhargram has gone viral on the social media. The elephant, reportedly pregnant according to some netizens, was seen writhing in pain after flaming iron nails were thrown at it from a nearby house. The video clearly showed the elephant succumbing to its burns on the road.
Watch the video here
Another video showed a group of people holding burning rods and setting the elephant on fire. The viral video has sparked a huge uproar on social media with the netizens calling the incident ‘inhuman’.
While Forest Minister Birbaha Hansda could not be reached for comment, a senior forest official told PTI that they heard about the incident and seen the video. “We are looking into the matter," he said.
In the meantime, Director Tathagata Mukherjee, who made the film 'Pariah' about abuse of street dogs, shared the video on Facebook, and said, "In the constituency of the forest minister, a pregnant elephant has been murdered by a private hula party (local civilians tasked with managing wild elephants). Everyone is silent."
Several social media users condemned the act and demanded stern action against the culprits.
"A mother elephant was tragically killed in #Jhargram, West Bengal, right in front of forest officials by the hullah parties (teams of the Forest Department tasked with driving elephants away from towns and villages). This brutal act demands immediate action. @PetaIndia, do you even care?" a user wrote.
Another said, "As per news, one elephant was killed mercilessly with a burning rod inserted in her body by morons with the help of Forest Department officers in Jhargram, West Bengal. Please take action against these culprits."
"On August 15th, some inhumane individuals in Jhargram brutally killed a pregnant elephant by inserting a burning rod into her.
@KolkataPolice, @jhargram_police, please take strong action against these monsters," another user said.
Apart from these people, actor Srilekha Mitra also expressed her distress on Facebook, saying, "Are we moving towards destruction? I can't tolerate such violence and aggression towards animals."
