Kerala High Court condemns elephant abuse at Guruvayur Temple

The Kerala High Court on Friday, 9 February, gave a dressing down to the Guruvayur Devaswom (the body that runs the affairs of the famed Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor) following reports of physical abuse of two elephants by two mahouts.

The viral videos of two mahouts beating elephants with iron rods came to the notice of the court while hearing a petition moved by a petitioner who had earlier flagged up ill-treatment meted out to the elephants at Guruvayoor.

The court directed the DFO Flying Squad to conduct an urgent inspection at the camp and take action against those who tame the elephants with iron rods. 

The HC also wanted to know the way things are being run at the elephant centre of the temple.

The court ordered that no iron rods or bullhooks should be used by the mahouts on elephants and posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday.

The videos went viral on Thursday, prompting the Devaswom authorities to suspend the mahouts who were seen thrashing the elephants.

According to information, one of the elephants, named Krishna, was mercilessly beaten up while being given a bath. The elephant was gifted to the temple by the late former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

The other elephant, named Kesavankutty, was beaten up by another mahout.

The court examined the visuals and asked the temple authorities that what action they had taken against the accused who had shown cruelty to the animals.

The Devaswom clarified that the incident took place on 15 and 24 January.

With IANS inputs