Guwahati, Oct 30: Assam has lost two lives to man-elephant conflict in the last three weeks after a 70-year-old woman was trampled by wild jumbo in Goalpara district of western Assam  on Friday morning.

On October 9, another woman, Jyoti Kanti got killed by a wild elephant in Golaghat district of Upper Assam.

Forest officials at Goalpara said the deceased has been identified as Tilottoma Ray, 70, and her body has been sent to autopsy while legal formalities are simultaneously being done for providing ex-gratia to her next of kin.

“She was moving around her home at Korkuchi under Dudhnoi police station on Friday morning when the wild jumbo came out and trampled her,” said Goalpara Divisional Forest Officer Jitendra Kumar.

Last month, a local BJP leader in Assam, Rajib Boro was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants near the Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati.

Man-animal conflicts in Assam

Several parts of Assam have faced man-animal conflicts over the past decade, in fact, second highest after Kerela. The reason, most conservationists and forest experts attribute, to rampant deforestation and encroachments in the habitat of  wild elephants.

According to the Forest and Wildlife Department officials, 891 humans have died in man-elephant conflicts during the last 10 years, with Sonitpur district recording the highest deaths, at 124, followed by Udalguri district with 118 and Goalpara district with 79.

Goalpara district accounted for 19 deaths so far due to elephant attacks this year.

This year, over 102 people including women, have died so far due to the elephant attacks in various parts of Assam.

The Assam government provides Rs 4 lakh as ex gratia to the family of the victim killed by the wild animals.