Elephant kills woman in Odisha, tramples her body at funeral

On June 10th, Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district witnessed an intense act of violence by an Elephant against a 70-year-old woman. Maya Murmu, a resident of Raipal village, was ferociously attacked by an elephant in the forest nearby.

According to the reports, the woman was taken to the hospital in critical condition where she later died. After the medical formalities and post-mortem, her family and neighbours brought her home for her last rites. While the preparations were ongoing, the elephant returned in an extremely aggressive mood. The villagers ran for their lives while the tusker attacked the dead woman’s corpse, trampling her furiously.

The elephant then started roaring, inciting others in the herd to attack the village as well. It then attacked her house in the village, smashing it and killing the goats as well. The herd then attacked several other houses, consuming their grains. The villagers said they ran away when the herd came charging, and when they came back, they witnessed the elephant lifting the body and destroying it brutally.


Elephant attacks are common in many parts of Odisha since a large area is covered with forest. Although the reason for such an attack is not yet known, it has fired the discussion about the vengeful behaviour of animals toward the humans who cross their territories.

Elephants have a long memory, and several such attacks have been considered acts of revenge over the poaching activities, especially in Kenyan villages. Scientists have even said that due to poaching and competition for territories, elephants might even have grown to dislike humans in some cases.

In fact, in Kerala, there have been reports of a tiger stalking and killing the poacher who killed his friends and family. Also, there has been an incident where a female leopard crossed the borders of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, following a poacher who had captured her cubs.