Malappuram woman searching for grandchildren trampled to death by wild elephant

Malappuram: In a tragic incident, a 68-year-old woman was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Kambikayam near Edavanna here on Thursday morning. The deceased is Kalyani, wife of Chandran, a resident of Kambikayam in Kizhake Chathallur.

The incident occurred around 10.30 am. According to forest officials, Kalyani was attacked by the elephant while she was searching for her grandchildren, who had been playing nearby.

As the elephant attack took place in a residential area, residents staged a protest against the Forest Department, expressing anger over the surge in human-wildlife conflicts. Officials believe the elephant was part of a herd that had strayed into the locality in search of food and was being driven back into the forest when the incident occurred.

IANS reported that residents gathered at the site, accusing the Forest Department of failing to prevent wild elephants from entering human settlements.

Kalyani’s body was shifted to the mortuary at Manjeri Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Kerala has been witnessing a sharp rise in human deaths caused by wild animal attacks. In May this year, a 43-year-old rubber tapper, Gafoor Ali, was killed in a tiger attack at a rubber estate in the Adakkakundu region of Malappuram, sparking widespread protests. The attack occurred while Ali was working on the estate early in the morning.

In another incident in January, a 45-year-old tribal woman, Radha—a daily wage worker and wife of a temporary forest department watchman—was killed in a tiger attack at a private coffee plantation in Pancharakolly near Mananthavady, Wayanad district.

Official data shows that elephant attacks alone have claimed 18 lives in Kerala so far this year, while over 200 people have been killed by elephants in the state between 2016 and 2025.