Elephant brutally beaten by temple mahouts in Tamil Nadu; video triggers outrage, arrests

A shocking video has been making rounds on social media since Sunday that showed the mahout of a temple elephant and his assistant brutally beating up the animal with sticks, at Thekkampatti near Mettupalayam in Tamil Nadu. Hours after the clip was circulated, the duo was booked by the Forest Department under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act. 

The disturbing video was shot on a mobile phone that shows 45-year-old mahout Vinil Kumar and his relative Sivaprasad thrashing the legs of the animal. The 19-year-old female elephant was tied with chains to a tree where she can be seen struggling in pain as the duo continued beating her. The animal was brought to Thekkampatti for the 13th annual rejuvenation camp for 23 temples that involves three elephants. 

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Organised by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE), the camp started on Feb 8 in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The victim elephant was from Andal Temple in Srivilliputhur. The Commissioner of the HR&CE Department, S Prabhakar suspended the mahout and his assistant, while further probe by the forest department revealed that Sivaprasad was not appointed by the temple, but was Kumar's relative, ANI reported. 

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When asked, Kumar claimed that they beat up the elephant on Saturday as the animal was allegedly not obeying the commands of the mahout. The video clip has irked several animal activists who demanded stringent action against those who are responsible for this inhumane act. N I Jalaluddin, the President of Nature Conservation Society told a national daily that a few wildlife NGOs arrived at the Thekkampatti camp and inspected how the elephants are being nurtured and treated.

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K Ramakrishnan, the General Secretary of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam warned of staging a protest on Monday neat Mettupalayam and demanded that the state government must ensure proper healthcare for the wounded elephant. Twitter exploded with reactions from several netizens who criticised the brutality by the mahouts on the animal and demanded strict action against them. Here is one such reaction to the brutal act which will not be reproduced here.