Rajakumari: For Emily Gnanamuthu, a widow from the 301 Colony in Chinnakanal, life has become a relentless struggle. Once terrorised by a wild elephant, she now finds herself battling the indifference of authorities, who she says have turned “more brutal than the tusker itself.”

Emily’s ordeal began on February 20, 2023, when the notorious tusker Arikomban stormed into her home around 4 am. As she slept on a cot near the wall, the elephant pushed it down with its trunk. Jolted awake by the sound of the collapsing wall, Emily escaped by a whisker, sprinting into the front portion of the house just in time to save her life.

The elephant eventually retreated after neighbours raised loud alarms, but not before leaving her house in ruins. Two months later, Arikomban was tranquillised and translocated to another forest. The Forest Department, however, sanctioned only a meagre sum for temporary repairs to the house.

Emily’s hopes were revived when her name appeared in the Life Mission beneficiary list, and she began building a new house in December 2023. The initial two instalments of ₹1 lakh gave her a start, but since then no further funds have been released. The construction came to a halt, leaving behind only a partially built structure.

For the past two years, Emily has been living in a makeshift shed next to the incomplete house. Covered with nothing more than a flimsy plastic sheet, the shed has become her home.