The Madras High Court, Madurai Bench had awarded compensation to a 23-year woman almost after 20 years in an elephant attack case. The award amount is Rs. 25 Lakhs.
The woman, Sindhu Lakshmi was attacked by an Arulmigu Mariamman Temple (Trichy) elephant in 1999 when she was only three years old. She was severely injured and the incident had permanently damaged her wind and food pipe. The Court found witnessed her struggle to speak during the hearing.
The Bench of Justice Krishnan Ramasamy while upholding the negligence of the temple authorities had observed,
“it is the basic expectation of every human being to live a healthy and active life. If such expectation is breached due to the negligence of the state or its agencies, then it becomes an obligation of the state to do the needful.”
Sindhu was taken care of by her parents and the family has been bearing the medical expenses for 20 years. They were struggling to get compensation all these years.
The Bench had directed the compensation to be awarded within four weeks. It further directed that the petitioner should be provided with a job in the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department due to her eligibility as a BE Computer Science graduate. The job is to be given within eight weeks.
