Two animal rights activists were allegedly harassed and verbally abused near Olarikkara Sree Bhagavathy Temple in Thrissur district for trying to provide water to an elephant which was chained in sun without shade during the temple festival.
Sally Varma, honorary welfare officer with the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and Preethi Sreevalsan, AWBI honorary welfare officer and founder of a Thrissur-based NGO, PAWS, were allegedly blocked and verbally abused by a mob near the temple
Some PAWS volunteers were near the temple ground since 9 am on Saturday and saw the elephant named Kalidasan tied up in hot sun outside. By 11 am Sally and Preethi reached the spot, where they took a video of elephant made to stand in sun.
"From 11 am to 3 pm, elephants should not be made to stand outside in sun. But here, the animal was tied in a place without shade. Moreover, it was not even provided with water. We thought to bring water in a tanker lorry so that the animal can drink as well as splash some on its body for relief from the hot weather. We took permission from collector's office, but we were surrounded by a mob and they started abusing us," Sally told TNM.
She added that the people around used abusive language while shouting at them. "They use derogatory words, insulted us, and shouted at us saying we were showing off. They warned us, and said that they know how to provide water to animal as they own it. They asked to leave the place. We were almost beaten up," she said.
She alleged that though a police officer arrived at the spot, he was also behaving badly with the animal welfare workers.
"A circle inspector came. He shouted at us to move aside. He was also abusive in his language and passed comments like we were created a fight over a non-issue. After he shouted at us, the whole mob around us clapped their hands and encouraged him," she alleged.
After a long ruckus, it was at 3.30 pm that the elephant was provided with water by its owners, Sally said.
"The whole day the elephant stood there without water. Since the incident, we are being abused in social media groups, with posts claiming that went there to tamper the temple festival," Sally said.