A 27-year-old man was killed in a wild elephant attack in this hill district in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.
The incident was reported from a tribal settlement in Attamala near Chooralmala where landslides claimed several lives in July last year.
The victim has been identified as Balakrishnan, a member of the tribal community, police said.
The incident is believed to have occurred around 3 am on Wednesday, they added.
Meanwhile, residents protested against the alleged lack of initiatives from the authorities to protect them from wild animal attacks.
They did not allow the body to be taken to the hospital until the authorities assured them of adequate steps to prevent such attacks and provide assistance to the deceased person’s family.
They demanded Rs 10 lakh in compensation, a government job for a dependent, and financial support for Balakrishnan’s funeral.
As a first step, the forest department will hand over Rs 5 lakh to the victim's kin on Wednesday itself, and the tribal department will provide all necessary assistance for conducting the funeral, the Tehsildar of Vythiri Taluk said.
The remaining Rs 5 lakh will soon be handed over to the kin, he told reporters.
Following this assurance, the protesters allowed the body to be shifted to a government hospital in Sultan Bathery for a post-mortem.
A forest officer said that people living in forest fringe areas should not venture out of their homes at odd hours.
Locals complained that wild elephants regularly enter the residential areas of Mundakkai and destroy crops. They sought a permanent solution to the problem.
The incident was reported a day after a 45-year-old man was killed in a wild elephant attack in a forest fringe area in Noolpuzha village on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border in this district.
Meanwhile, the local leadership of the Congress-led UDF has called for a hartal in Wayanad district on Thursday, accusing the state government of 'failing' to take steps to protect people from wild animal attacks.
UDF District Chairman K K Ahmed Haji and Convener P T Gopala Kurup said in a statement that the hartal is being organised in response to the government's inaction despite the frequent loss of human lives due to these attacks.
Essential services as well as travel for exams, weddings, and annual religious festivals have been exempted from the hartal, the leaders said.
Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan said that shocking news continues to emerge from the high-range areas of the state.
"In the past three days alone, four people have been trampled to death by elephants. In just one week, five people have lost their lives. Despite repeated demands for urgent action the government has done nothing. The government's current approach amounts to abandoning the people living near forest borders to their fate," he alleged.
He said that elephants are reportedly entering human settlements due to a lack of water in the forest.
"If that is the case, arrangements should be made to provide water and food within the forest itself. Other states have already implemented systems to supply water and food in forest areas where elephants frequently wander," Satheesan said.
"Kerala too has taken similar measures in the past. The government must take immediate steps to deploy special teams in areas where elephants are commonly sighted to ensure people's safety," he added.
The Congress leader further stated that meetings alone are not solving the issue.
"Shouldn't the government at least deploy the Rapid Action Force in high-risk areas? Shouldn't food and water be provided for the animals? Temperatures are set to rise further—does this mean more elephants will enter villages, leading to more human casualties? Is that what the minister is suggesting?" Satheesan asked.
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