Pregnant elephant's death in Kerala: Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan express despair & anger

A pregnant wild elephant in Kerala's Silent Valley Forest fell victim to an act of human cruelty after a pineapple filled with powerful crackers offered by a man exploded in her mouth when she chomped on it, a senior forest officer said on Tuesday. This led to widespread condemnation from people all across the country.

Bollywood celebrities like Anushka Sharma, Disha Patani, and others took to their social media handles to demand stricter laws against animal cruelty. Alia Bhatt on her Insta story wrote, "Terrible just terrible. We need to be their VOICE and coexist!! Is this meant to be some kind of sick joke?? This is heartbreaking."

READ | Netizens share art to express anger over horrific killing of pregnant elephant in Kerala 

Meanwhile, Varun Dhawan shared artwork of the elephant and the baby inside her and wrote, "We pray to them and yet do this." He further wrote that this was cruel beyond measure. "When you lack empathy and kindness, you do not deserve to be called a human being. To hurt someone is not human. Just stricter laws won't help. We need a decent execution of the law too. Until the guilty are punished in the worst possible way, these wicked monsters will never fear the law. Though it's a difficult task, I hope they are able to find out the one who committed this crime and punish them accordingly."

READ | Kerala: Pregnant elephant dies in river after being fed pineapple filled with crackers 

The elephant died when she was standing in water in the river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw, the forest officials informed.