Kochi, June 4: Days after a pregnant elephant died in Kerala after it was fed a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers, social media has been flooded with tweets and messages expressing shock over the inhuman incident. The news triggered an outrage on social media platforms demanding stricter laws and asking government to take stern action against the culprits. However, people are still unaware about the place where the incident actually took place. Media reports claimed that the brutal incident took place in Kerala's Malappuram but the truth is, the incident took place in Palakkad district. Several political leaders too, have mentioned that place wrong, triggering panic and confusion among people. HORRIFYING! Pregnant Elephant's Death After Being Fed Pineapple Filled With Crackers In Kerala Is New Low For Humanity, Furious Netizens Demand Justice For The 'Mother and Baby'.
The brutal incident of animal abuse took place in Kerala's Palakkad district, which resulted in the death of the elephant while standing in a river. Several users on Twitter too, cleared the air and said it's not Malappuram district, it's Mannarkkad in Palakkad district where the pregnant elephant died.
On June 3, BJP leader and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi termed the incident as 'murder' and said Kerala's Malappuram district is known for animal cruelty. "Kerala Government has not taken any action in Malappuram, it seems they are scared. An elephant is killed every 3 days in Kerala. We have less than 20,000 elephants left in India, they are rapidly declining", Gandhi had said.
Take a Look at the tweets:
Get your geography right: Mallapuram and Palakkad are different places. Can you also investigate why Elephants are used for temple processions
— Keerikadan Jose (@hilalta) June 4, 2020
Madam, Kerela is ruled by @cpimspeak not @RahulGandhi.
Secondly, the case happened in #Palakkad district atleast 180Kms away from #Wayanad from where Rahul Gandhi is an MP.
Please don't bother your pea size brain. This is beyond your comprehension.
— #RG_For_PM (@SamanSutiya1) June 4, 2020
It's not in Malappuram, happened in Palakkad district.
— Dinto Devid (@dintodevid) June 4, 2020
The event actually happened in the district of Palakkad, not Malappuram as claimed. Right wing goons obviously made use of the chance to blame Malappuram as it has a majority of Muslims - the "Malappuram has 70% M population, hence there is no real surprise here" kinda talk. 2/10
— Sulyab Thottungal (@sulyabtv) June 4, 2020
Liar......it's not malappuram.....it's from palakkad
— mohd kc (@mohdkc1) June 3, 2020
Sir, it was in Palakkad not Mallapuram.
And why the Indian culture remarks? #Kerala #keralaelephant https://t.co/mQINERbk6L
— Gargi Rawat (@GargiRawat) June 4, 2020
In the wake of the incident, the central government on Thursday took a serious note of the incident and said that it will be investigated properly. Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change took to micro-blogging site Twitter and said the Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram in Kerala. "We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill", he said.
According to a report by IANS, Samuel Pachuau, the Wildlife Warden of the Silent Valley National Park, said that on May 23, the officials there came to know about this incident, when the elephant was spotted near a water source outside the National park. Pachuau said they called a veterinarian and on May 25 elephant expert David Abraham came and examined the situation. He added saying that two days later, the elephant died in a sitting posture in the water.
It was on May 27, that a 15-year-old pregnant elephant ate a pineapple which was filled with powerful firecrackers. The fruit was offered by a man which exploded in her mouth after she chewed it. The incident caused serious injuries on the elephant's tongue, jaw and mouth. Later, the injured elephant walked into a river and waited for three days and succumbed to her injuries. In the autopsy report, it was found that the upper and lower jaw, teeth and tongue of the elephant were badly damaged. The report cited that the cause of death is due to aspiration of the lungs as it was filled with water.
Fact check
Pregnant Elephant Killed in Mallapuram District of Kerala
The Brutal Incident took place in Palakkad District and Not in Mallapuram
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 04, 2020 01:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).