Puducherry (The Hawk): On Wednesday, Lakshmi, an elephant at Puducherry's Sri Manakula Vinayagar temple, passed away.
The cow elephant swooned and passed away on the road after being led for a morning stroll by its two mahouts. Only after a postmortem could the 32-year-old elephant's cause of death be determined.
R V Janakiraman, a former chief minister and DMK leader, gave the elephant to the temple as a gift.
As soon as word of Lakshmi's passing spread, a sizable crowd gathered.
The elephant received tributes from the lieutenant governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, PWD minister K Lakshminarayanan, former chief minister V Narayanansamy, and others.
After being obliged to stand for extended periods of time on a concrete path in front of the temple, Lakshmi developed severe foot rot illness, a fungal condition prevalent in captive elephants.
The Puducherry government has received numerous requests from People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) to relocate Lakshmi to a sanctuary. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), which evaluated the elephant's mental and physical condition in 2015, published a report outlining concerns for the elephant's health and safety.
(Inputs from Agencies)