Youth trampled to death by elephants while taking selfies in Krishnagiri

Coimbatore: The craze for selfies with wild animals turned deadly for a 27-year-old youth in Krishnagiri Tuesday morning.

According to Forest department officials, E Ram Kumar, 27 from Kattukollai village near Barur attempted to take a selfie with two wild elephants passing through Mottupatti, when he came under their attack.

He had gone to attend the call of nature in the foothills near Mottupatti when he spotted a pair of wild elephants. Mustering courage and ignoring the risks involved, Ram Kumar, working as a priest in a local temple, went closer to the elephants to take a selfie with his cell phone.

Disturbed by his presence, one of the elephants suddenly charged at him. “It lifted him by its trunk and flung him to the ground before trampling him to death,” an official said.

Some of the villagers who noticed the incident informed the Barur police who rushed to the spot and sent the body of the deceased for post-mortem to Pochampalli Government Hospital.

Meanwhile, the forest department drove the two elephants towards the Thatrahalli area, when they triggered panic while crossing Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri NH.

The furious elephants attacked and damaged a car, which had a few people inside crying for help, before retreating into forests.