Scholars allege apathy by Sacon administration in student’s death in elephant attack, stage silent protest

A day after a postgraduate student of M.Sc. Wildlife Science was trampled to death by a wild elephant on the campus of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (Sacon) near Coimbatore, research scholars of the instutute staged a silent protest on Thursday, alleging that official apathy had led to the death of the aspiring biologist.

A day after a postgraduate student of M.Sc. Wildlife Science was trampled to death by a wild elephant on the campus of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (Sacon) near Coimbatore, research scholars of the instutute staged a silent protest on Thursday, alleging that official apathy had led to the death of the aspiring biologist.

Wearing black badges, a section of research scholars squatted in front of the bust of Salim Ali on the campus on Thursday, condemning the administration and demanding justice for the deceased, Vishal Shrimal, 23, of Rajasthan.

One of the placards placed before the bust read: “It’s not elephant, It’s mismanagement”. 

“Based on the events happened due to mismanagement of the administration, there are issues that threaten the life and security of the researchers in Sacon, Coimbatore. Moreover, because of the injustice happened to Vishal Shrimal, before and after his death, the group of researchers in Sacon has decided to go on a strike to demand justice for Vishal and to the safety of all fellow researchers on the Sacon campus”, said a notice on the protest, which was signed by nine students.

A scholar told The Hindu that Shrimal was attacked by a wild elephant on the campus, which is situated inside a reserve forest off the Coimbatore – Mannarkad Road, when he stepped out of the hostel/guest house to get drinking water from the canteen on Tuesday night. “He had to go to the canteen at night since there is no drinking water in the hostel. He carried two water cans to get the water and used his mobile phone’s torch, for light. In fact, he had requested the administration to provide a torch a few days ago,” the scholar claimed on condition of anonymity.

According to the scholar, Shrimal, who had been pursuing an M.Sc. in Wildlife Science at the University of Kota in Rajasthan, came to the Sacon campus around a week ago for dissertation work and he was not very familiar with the terrain. “Since the campus is situated in a forest and on an elephant transit path, the administration should have ensured that drinking water is available at the hostel. Also, most of the pathway lamps on the campus are defunct,” the scholar alleged.

The scholar further alleged that the administration also forced other students to sign a document stating that the death occurred when Shrimal was returning from the canteen after having his dinner.