The house destroyed by elephants in Chandaka. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 20: A 35-year-old woman was allegedly trampled to death by elephants at Chunukoli in Andharua on the outskirts of the city this morning.

The herd of four animals, which have been roaming around the Chandaka forests for the past two months, also destroyed a thatched house.

Villagers said the victim, Chanda Besra, 35, was killed by the elephant in the early hours today while she had gone to the forest to attend nature’s call.

“She went to the forest. After sometime, when she did not return, we started looking for her and found her body in the forest. Her head has been crushed,” said her husband, Kali Charan Besra.

A forest official, however, said they would wait for the post-mortem report before making any comments on her death. Another couple had a close shave last night after two elephants destroyed their thatched house. The couple ran away from the house to save their lives. However, the incident triggered panic among the villagers and the residents of the nearby Infocity campus.

Villagers alleged that the elephant-proof trenches had got silted, as a result of which chances of jumbos entering nearby human habitations became high.

“We have been demanding de-siltation of the trenches. But, the forest officials have done nothing so far,” said Arjun Munda, a villager.

Divisional forest officer of Chandaka Manoj Mohapatra said a number of tribal habitations were located on the periphery of the Chandaka sanctuary, and often elephant trenches got silted because of the increased human activity, especially firewood collection from the forest by the villagers. “Though we have come across elephant movement at Bharatpur, their movement at Chunukoli is not usual,” said Mohapatra.