There was pandemonium in an Indian village after an elephant killed a 70-year-old woman and then returned to her funeral to trample her corpse.
The woman, Maya Murmu met her death when she went out to draw water in Raipal village, Eastern India where the escaped elephant came out of nowhere and trampled her on Thursday morning, June 9.
She later died in hospital of her injuries, Rasgovindpur police station inspector Lopamudra Nayak said.
The elephant returned later in the evening as the elderly woman’s body lay on top of her funeral pyre.
It took her body down, trampled her again, threw her around, and went off into the night, according to the Press Trust of India.
The elephant is believed to have travelled from the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary in the state of Jharkhand, 200km away from Raipal in Odisha state, Mayurbhanj district.
According to local reports, the Independent said, the second trampling happened while Ms. Murmu’s family were performing the last rites.
The sad incident did not stop the family the deceased from going ahead with the ceremony after the elephant left.