The Assam government will move the court against the Tamil Nadu government for not returning an elephant ‘Joymala’ which was tortured in a temple, as claimed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.
According to reports, the jumbo was illegally held by the Srivilliputhur Nachiyar Thirukovil temple for over a decade and is now in the nearby Krishnan Kovil temple.
On August 26, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in India exposed the abuse of Joymala showing the continuous maltreatment of the captive elephant.
According to the shocking report, the tusker was beaten so brutally that she can be heard screaming in pain in a viral video shot in the holiest of places – the sanctum sanctorum of the Krishnan Kovil temple, where she is chained to the floor.
According to a report by ‘The Indian Express’, MK Yadava, Assam’s principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden, told media that because Joymala, the adult female elephant, could not be brought back to the state due to the Tamil Nadu government’s lack of cooperation, the Assam government decided to take legal action.
He said that after more than a year of communication, the chief wildlife warden of Tamil Nadu issued an order providing permission to take Joymala in April or May of this year.
However, the technical problem is that the Tamil Nadu forest agency needs to take control of the animal, only then Assam govt be able to bring it back otherwise, it will be considered robbery,” Yadava stated.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on September 2, would deploy a team from the Forest Department to Tamil Nadu to retrieve ‘Joymala’ and eight other elephants.
A total of nine elephants have been illegally-kept in Tamil Nadu.
These elephants were leased from Assam in 2008 for temple visits, but have since been unlawfully retained.
