Keonjhar: In an unfortunate incident, an elderly woman was killed after an elephant attacked her in the courtyard of her house at Jagmohanpur under Telkoi forest range in the district last night.
The deceased has been identified as Janaki Padhan, the widow of Dibakar Padhan.
The tusker wreaked havoc in the village for the last couple of days giving sleepless night to the villagers. People tried hard to drive the animal away from the village, but to no avail.
Janaki came out of her house while villagers were chasing the elephant. Meanwhile, Janaki came on the way of the animal which pulled her out with the trunk and crushed her to death.
Villagers alleged that elephant menace has risen in the locality during evening hour due to frequent power-cut. They said that forest department has disconnected the electricity in a bid to save elephants.
Amid deep darkness, the pachyderms strayed into the human settlement and created havoc with attacking humans and destroying houses and farm lands.
Following the death of the woman, tension prevailed in the village. Police and Forest officials reached the spot and tried to pacify the irate residents who demanded adequate compensation to the family of the deceased and permanent solution to the rising jumbo menace.