Woman killed in elephant attack

A woman died after a herd of elephants attacked her home in Nalitabari upazila of Sherpur early yesterday.

The victim, Surton Nessa, 60, was the wife of late Rangu Sheikh of the upazila's Batkuchi village.

Quoting locals, Forest Department's Madhutila Range Officer Dewan Ali said a herd of elephants entered Batkuchi village around 10:00pm on Thursday. Initially the villagers managed to drive them away, but the herd returned around 3:00am.

At that time, the elephants attacked Surton's house, killing her on the spot while she was sleeping alone inside the house, the official added.

On information, police recovered her body later in the morning and handed it over to her family without an autopsy.

Earlier, on the night of May 20, two people were similarly killed in an elephant attack in the district's Jhenaigati upazila.

The persisting human-elephant conflict is the result of deforestation and habitat loss.

Over the past 10 years, at least 124 elephants were killed across Cox's Bazar, Chattogram, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and Mymensingh regions. Many fell prey to retaliatory killings, electrocution, poaching, and train accidents.

Conversely, at least 83 people have also been killed in elephant encounters during this period.