The incident occurred on Wednesday in the village of Mundaashi in the state’s Champua Forest Range where the seven-year-old Sini Munda was sleeping along with her brother Ganesh and sister Rani.
Following the elephant attack, the three kids were reportedly rushed to the local Community Health Centre. Sini was declared dead on arrival whereas her siblings were admitted in critical condition.
Reports said the pachyderm accidentally got separated from the herd in the nearby jungle and went berserk. It created panic amongst villagers. Later, police were approached for help. A police team brought forest officials along with them and finally tackled the situation.
Incidents of elephants going rogue in Odisha's rural areas is not new.
Several incidents of stray elephants destroying a village’s mud houses and killing people have regularly been reported from the state.
On 18 June, several wild elephants went on a rampage killing two forest officials in Odisha’s capital city Bhubaneshwar. State officials since then have issued alerst and villagers have been asked not to venture around elephants.
