Elephant Returns to Trample Funeral

In June 2022 in a village in the state of Odisha in India, 70-year-old Maya Murmu was collecting water from a tubewell when a wild elephant that had strayed from a nearby wildlife sanctuary charged and trampled her. Villagers took her to a hospital, where she died from her injuries, and her family brought her body home for last rites that evening. As the funeral ceremony took place, the same elephant suddenly returned, pulled her corpse from the pyre, trampled it again, threw it, and then fled. After the animal left, her family and neighbors completed the funeral a few hours later.

Previous Fact Next Fact