Three people were killed and 29 others injured, including seven gravely, after two elephants ran amok during a temple festival at Kuruvangad Manakkulangara Temple in Koyilandi on Thursday evening.
The deceased have been identified as Leela, 65, Ammukutty, 70, and Rajan. According to local legislator K Jameela, the incident was triggered when fireworks were set off as part of the temple festival, agitating the elephants, which then turned on each other.
As panic ensued, a large crowd of devotees fled in different directions. The elephants charged into a building, causing it to collapse and killing three people. The chaos led to a stampede-like situation, further trapping and injuring several individuals.
Seven people sustained serious injuries, while 22 others suffered minor wounds. Jameela stated that the state-run hospital in Koyilandi has been directed to provide the best possible medical care to the injured.
The incident comes in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in December last year, which stayed the Kerala High Court’s guidelines on the parading and gathering of elephants at festivals.
Earlier, a division bench of the High Court had imposed strict restrictions, mandating a three-metre distance between elephants and an eight-metre gap between elephants and percussion ensembles.
However, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice BV Nagaratna and Justice NK Singh ruled that the High Court’s restrictions were impractical and contrary to the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2012. The bench observed that the High Court should not have exercised suo motu powers in the matter.
In its judgement on November 13, the High Court bench of Justice AK Jayashankaran Nambiar and Justice P Gopinath had noted that the use of elephants in festivals was not an essential religious practice.
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