PETA slams Tamil Nadu’s ‘PR stunt’ on abused elephant Joymala

The TN Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department resorted to a publicity stunt showing Joymala was being pampered, PETA said

The People for the Ethical Treatment to Animals (PETA) India on Tuesday slammed the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (TNHRCE) Department for its “public relations stunt” to show Joymala, the much-abused female elephant from Assam, was being pampered in a temple.

Joymala, renamed Jeymalyatha in the southern State, should have been seized by the Tamil Nadu Government after the first case of her torture had surfaced through a video, the animal rights group said.

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PETA India said the TNHRCE Department focussed on “misleading the public” instead of ensuring suitable action on repeated crimes against the elephant. The department released a 30-second video on Monday showing Jeymalyatha unchained with unarmed mahouts and in a pool of blood besides claiming that the videos on the elephant being tortured were fake, it said.

“This is despite the same agency having suspended the mahout involved in beating Jeymalyatha at a rejuvenation camp and the mahout and kavadi being booked for the crime which went viral in February 2021,” PETA India said.

This crime was also extensively documented by the TNHRCE in a disciplinary action report and a First Information Report was filed against the abusers under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

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