“The victim, identified as Fagni Bai, a native of Barpali village, had gone to pluck tendu leaves in the forest near Kalmitikra when she came face to face with the elephant,” said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Korba, Vivekanand Jha.
On receiving information about the incident, police and forest officials reached the spot and recovered the body. It was handed it over to her family members after post-mortem, the DFO said.
A case has been registered in this regard, he said, adding the kin of the deceased are given instant compensation.
The thickly forested northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur and Korea districts, notorious for incidents of human-elephant conflicts, has witnessed several deaths and widespread damages to houses and crops by rogue pachyderms in past years.