A 68-year-old woman lost her life after being attacked by a wild elephant in north Kerala&rsquo;s Malappuram district on Thursday morning.
The incident occurred in the Edavanna region, where the elephant trampled the woman to death, sparking protests among local residents.
The deceased has been identified as Kalyani, wife of Chandran, a resident of Kambikkayam in Kizhake Chathallur. According to officials, she was searching for her grandchildren, who had been playing nearby, when the elephant attacked her around 10.30 a.m.
The elephant is believed to have strayed from a herd that forest officials were trying to drive back into the forest after it entered the residential area in search of food.
Her body has been shifted to the Manjeri Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem.
The incident has raised concerns about growing human&ndash;wildlife conflict in Kerala. Locals expressed anger at what they called the Forest Department&rsquo;s failure to prevent wild elephants from entering villages.
This is the latest in a series of fatal animal attacks reported from the state. In May, a 43-year-old rubber tapper, Gafoor Ali, was killed in a tiger attack at a rubber estate in Adakkakundu, Malappuram. Earlier in January, a 45-year-old tribal woman, Radha, was mauled to death by a tiger at a coffee plantation in Pancharakolly, Wayanad.
Official records show Kerala has already seen 18 deaths from elephant attacks this year, while more than 200 people have lost their lives to elephants between 2016 and 2025. [Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by the Benefit News editorial team and is published directly from the IANS news feed]

Kerala woman killed in wild elephant attack

68-year-old trampled in Malappuram as elephant strays into residential area,protests erupt

Kerala woman killed in wild elephant attack

68-year-old trampled in Malappuram as elephant strays into residential area,protests erupt

August 21, 2025 | 21:55 IST