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Puducherry: Elephant Laxmi of Manakula Vinayagar temple dies suddenly, activists allege sabotage by PETA and others

Several people have alleged that in the last few days, the elephant was being treated by a PETA veterinarian instead of a regular veterinarian, and she was kept confined denying her regular exercise

On Wednesday, 30th November 2022, an elephant named Laxmi, belonging to the renowned Manakula Vinayagar temple in Puducherry, died of abrupt heart arrest while being taken for a walk. She was 32 years old. Many individuals paid respects to Laxmi, including Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.

On the scene when the elephant experienced a heart attack and passed away, a veterinarian from the union territory government who was caring for the animal was also present. He told PTI that the animal was healthy before the unexpected cardiac arrest that ultimately led to its demise. The pachyderm died after collapsing on a road near the public secondary school Calve College.

People from all regions of the union territory flocked to pay respects as soon as the news of the elephant’s passing spread on social media. Additionally, people were spotted covering the animal’s mortal remains with garlands and flower petals.

The reason behind the sudden heart attack suffered by Laxmi was not clear. Twitter users started raising questions about her health condition and treatments. Several people have alleged that in the last few days, the elephant was being treated by a PETA veterinarian instead of a regular veterinarian. It is also alleged that Laxmi was given unknown injections. Many people also pointed out that due to the pressure of so-called animal rights activists Laxmi was kept confined and she was not allowed regular walks and other necessary physical exercises. This led to deterioration of her health, people are alleging.

Indu Makkal Katchi tweeted, “Lakshmi was given 15 injections yesterday, says Ashok Rajan an animal activist. What were those injections, why was the regular doctor denied to treat her, and a PETA doc from Bangalore had to treat her?”

S. Muralidharan of Redefining Animal Welfare suspected that there is sabotage by BJP’s Maneka Gandhi and Indian Forest Service official Vanjulavalli Sridhar in the death of Lakshmi. Temple activists and elephant advocates have claimed foul play. Muralidharan questioned, “On whose orders did she lock the elephant in the shed without walking & perform a postmortem.”

During the pandemic, he said, Maneka Gandhi forcibly removed Laxmi from the Manakula Vinayagar Temple. He said, “We brought Laxmi back with the help of then Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy, Congress leader Americai Narayanan and Indu Makkal Katchi. But after that, Maneka exerted pressure on the Forest Department to keep the elephant confined not even allowing her to go for a walk. Because of that, she (Laxmi) had water retention in her body due to which she suffered a heart attack and died today morning.”

Earlier, in 2020, Lakshmi the Elephant was taken away from her home after PETA and the Animal Welfare Board intervened in the matter and accused the Temple of violating the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, too, was involved in the whole affair and she requested Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi and the Directorate of Forests and Wildlife to remove the elephant from the temple and shift her to a ‘safer’ location. At the time, Lakshmi was forcibly removed from the Temple and shifted to the Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Kurumamber, where her health was reported to have deteriorated. On 18th July 2020, Laxmi was brought back to the Manakula Temple

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