Guwahati, Jan. 14: Two rhinos, which had strayed into a village from Kaziranga National Park last night, ran amok when they suddenly found themselves among people this morning.

For a while, villagers of Kuruabahi, about 20km from the national park, did not know how to react when they spotted the two full-grown rhinos — one male and the other female. Although most managed to run away when chased by the animals, a 45-year-old woman was injured when one of the rhinos butted her in the abdomen.

Phuleswari Ghatowar, who works in a tea garden, had gone to a paddy field looking for her cattle, when she fell into the path of the agitated rhino.

She had to be admitted Golaghat Civil Hospital with serious internal injuries. Doctors, however, said her condition was now stable.

Soon after hitting Phuleswari, the female rhino got stuck in a ditch. The other was chased back to the park by forest rangers. The pair had probably gone out last night with the intention of mating, a forest official said.

“But this morning when they found villagers milling around, the animals began attacking them.”

The forest department will try to pull the rhino out of the ditch tomorrow. “There are too many people around and the rhino may turn aggressive again. We will try to pull it out tomorrow and chase it back to Kaziranga, which is about 20km from the site of the incident,” the officer said.

With hundreds of villagers gathering to watch the rhino, police personnel had to be deployed at Madhupurpathar to keep the crowd in check.