Tiruchendur temple elephant ‘Deivanai’ tramples mahout, his relative, to death

Temple elephant Deivanai tramples mahout and relative to death at Tiruchendur shrine, shocking devotees, leading to closure.

In a shocking incident, the temple elephant - Deivanai - at the famous Subramanian Swamy temple in Tiruchendur trampled the mahout and his relative to death on Monday.

Following this, the temple was shut for devotees till 3.30 p.m. Only after the pujas (parihara pujas) were performed, the shrine was open to the public at around 4 p.m.

It is said that when ‘Deivanai’ was in the fenced portion, the assistant mahout S Udaykumar (45) of VOC Nagar here was on duty and in charge of the pachyderm. His relative K Sisubalan (57) of Kanniyakumari was also present at the spot.

Suddenly, at around 4.30 a.m., the elephant had attacked Sisubalan. Shocked, when Udaykumar attempted to rescue, he too suffered assaults. While Sisubalan died on the spot, the assistant mahout was rushed to the Tiruchendur Government Hospital, where he died after the treatment failed, doctors said.

As the news spread, the head mahout Radhakrishnan came to the spot and sprinkled water on the pachyderm and it was sent back to the cage and chained as a precautionary measure, temple staff said.

Senior officials from the Forest Department arrived and held inquiries with the staffs in the temple. Doctors from the veterinary department and police officers were present. They examined the CCTV footage and watched the elephant’s movements.

A few of the officials, who had visited the shrine and held inquiries told The Hindu that the pachyderm may have overworked or suffered injuries during ceremonies. The pain could have irritated or aggravated it and turned violent. We have to physically examine, they added.