“We are not the only animal that mourns; apes do, and elephants. Yet we are the only one that tortures”: Mahout repeatedly hit elephant with sticks, stabbing her legs, eyes and skin torn with pliers, Assam Govt sends high-level committee to bring her back

Few videos have surfaced exposing the abuse of Assam’s elephant Joymala (known as Jeymalyatha in Tamil Nadu), including the use of weapons such as pliers by the latest mahout, who was brought in after numerous other mahouts were caught on video beating her. The shocking report also reveals that she was beaten so ruthlessly she can be heard screaming in pain in a viral video at the holiest of places – the sanctum sanctorum of the Krishnan Kovil temple, where she is kept chained to the floor. Previously, a video showed her screaming while being beaten by two mahouts at a rejuvenation camp.

Assam govt has formed a four-member high-level committee to bring back Joymala, an elephant originally from Assam, from Tamil Nadu, after a video emerged showing horrific tortures of the elephant in a temple. The committee was formed in a meeting attended by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary after the video created massive outrage in the state.

The meeting decided to send the four-member team to Tamil Nadu and inspect the condition of Joymala, discuss the matter with the Tamil Nadu government, and pave the way for the return of the elephant to Assam. The team consists of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Hirdesh Mishra as team leader, Assam Agriculture University professor Dr. Kushal Kumar Sarma, Morigaon SP Aparna Natarajan, and Tinsukia District Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Officer Dr. Rupjyoti Kakoti. The team is visiting Tamil Nadu today, 2^nd September 2022.

Illuminating about the decision last evening, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "We are against any type of brutality to animals. Consequently, reports of abuse to Joymala, an elephant from Assam, in Tamil Nadu have tormented us." He informed that the choice to send the 4-part group to Tamil Nadu was taken in a gathering with Forest Department Officials in presence of Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary.

The matter came to light last week after PETA India raised the issue. The video showing the horrific torture of Joymala, known as Jeymalyatha in Tamil Nadu, was published by Tamil Channel ABP Nadu on June 12 this year, but it went unnoticed at that time. It went viral in the last week of August after PETA India and several netizens started to post it on social media.

On August 26, PETA India shared the video on Twitter, saying that it shows a new mahout using pliers to twist the skin of the illegally held elephant. The video showed the mahout repeatedly beating the elephant with sticks, and stabbing her legs, while the animal screams in pain. It is also alleged that the mahout often hits her eyes with sticks, and her skin is torn with pliers.

The elephant is kept captive at the sanctum sanctorum of the Krishnan Kovil temple in Tamil Nadu, and the video shows that she is chained to the floor of the temple. The elephant is being subjected to torture for a long time by different mahouts, and the latest mahouts also continued with that.

A PETA team visited the temple and found that the elephant’s feet had developed infections as she is kept on the concrete floor most of the time. They submitted a veterinary inspection report to the Forest Department Officials in Tamil Nadu and Assam. Joymala was originally kept in Srivilliputhur Nachiyar Thirukovil temple for over a decade and was shifted to nearby Krishnan Kovil temple recently.

Another video of torture of the elephant emerged in 2021 also, which showed Joymala being beaten at a rejuvenation camp. The elephant was in the custody of Andal Temple in Srivilliputhur at that time.

After that occurrence last year, the mahout and his partner were suspended by Tamil Nadu's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and they were captured by the police. Yet, even after their capture, ensuing mahouts proceeded with the torment of the elephant for reasons unknown.

After the new video of torment arose and visiting the sanctuary, PETA India documented a protest, after which the Animal Welfare Board of India mediated regarding this situation and a FIR was recorded under significant segments of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Besides, a natural life offense report under the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972, alongside the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephant (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2011, was supposedly enrolled by the Srivilliputhur Forest Range in July.

The matter set off enormous shock in Assam after writer Nandan Pratim Sharma Bordoloi posted the ABP Nadu video on August 28, and afterward posted a few tweets mentioning Assam govt to safeguard the elephant from Tamil Nadu.

A photograph of the pachyderm showed huge red-purple patches on the whole body, an obvious indicator of fierce torment.

The elephant was taken to Tamil Nadu from Kakopathar in Assam quite a while back in 2008, and photographs around then show she was totally sound and fit. She was possessed by one Girin Mohan, and she was rented by a sanctuary in Tamil Nadu for a long time in the wake of finishing the fundamental customs. Notwithstanding, Joymala was always avoided Assam according to the arrangement, and she began getting severe torment from her controllers.

The original owners in Kakopathar in Assam broke down after seeing the recordings of the elephant. A lady in the family said that she could perceive the elephant in the visuals, and requested that she ought to be brought back.

She said that the elephant was borrowed by a temple from them in 2008, but she was never returned.

References:

opindia.com