An elderly man and his 32-year-old son were killed in an attack of wild elephant s at Laxminiya-9 in the district on Wednesday morning.

District Police Office, Rautahat, said Govinda Giri, 65, and his son Sumat were trampled to death by the wild tuskers. The incident occurred when villagers tried to chase away the tuskers from their settlement. A herd of elephant s from a nearby forest entered the settlement on Tuesday night. The victims were attacked as they tried to drive away the elephant s that entered a shed where Govinda’s mentally ill wife was asleep.

According to villagers who witnessed the incident, the elephant s dragged the victims and trampled them on their heads. Sunil Yadav, who was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the area recently, said police did not respond on time though villagers immediately informed them of the incident. The victims’ relatives received the bodies on Wednesday after  District Forest Officer Baburam Bhandari assured that the government will help the bereaved family. He said a team of officials from the Chitwan National Park will arrive in the area to chase away the tuskers.

He also handed over Rs 50,000 to the family to perform the last rites.

(Source : Ekantipur)