Woman, her minor son killed in elephant attack

A 35-year-old woman and her minor son were killed and houses were damaged by a herd of wild elephants in a village of Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, police said today.
The incident took place last night in Pidiya village under Sitapur police station area, Station House Officer (SHO) Sitapur Dinesh Singh Baghel said.
A herd of wild elephants entered the village, which lies in the Mainpat forest range. A woman, Ratni Bai, and her son Sukhsai (5) were trampled to death by the elephants after they came in front of the herd, he said.
The pachyderms also damaged at least 20 houses in the village and killed a livestock before going back inside the forest, the SHO added.

The kin of the deceased have been given an instant relief amount of Rs 50,000, a local forest official said.
The thick forested northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur and Korea districts, are known for human-elephant conflict.
The region has witnessed several killings of tribals and widespread damages to houses and crops by rogue elephant in the past.