Indian Elephant Torture VIDEO Sparks Outrage on Twitter (GRAPHIC)

New Delhi (Sputnik): A video showing a chained elephant being mercilessly hit with sticks and rods in a forest in the Indian state of Kerala has left animal lovers anguished and pained at the state of affairs for helpless animals in the country.

The incident occurred in Thrissur district of Kerala in southern India. Pramod Chandrasekharan, an animal lover, rescuer, and activist, who posted the video on Twitter, wrote: "Karnan the gentle giant, once a temple elephant, being mercilessly beaten up in Thrissur, Kerala".

WARNING: The following footage is graphic and may offend sensibilities.

The video has evoked outrage on social media and soon went viral with 56.9k views so far. It shows two men beating the pachyderm, named Karnan, on the legs, perhaps to force it to follow their commands. The elephant is hit so many times from all sides that it ultimately gives up and lies down in pain while remaining tied to a tree.

Means

Is there a petition or anything we can do? It says ONCE a temple elephant.. implies he left the temple???.. a little confusing??? Clearly he's being abused.. the copy is ambiguous..thought it was a sanctuary because ONCE implies past tense. He's where now then? Not temple?😢

It may be noted that a temple elephant is a captive elephant and considered an important part of temple traditions in southern India.                                                       

Meanwhile, Karnan, the elephant, was finally rescued by the Voice for Asian Elephants Society, an organisation with a vision to create sustainable communities through caring for and protecting endangered Asian elephants in India.    

Also, a case has reportedly been filed against the owner of the elephant. The mahouts (elephant caretakers) have been dismissed from their duties.