Shanti with her newborn, in their damaged house in Biramitrapur on Monday.
Shanti with her newborn, in their damaged house in Biramitrapur on Monday.
As tales of ruthless elephants destroying crops and habitats trickle in from different parts of the state, reports of an incident on Monday night speak of the deeper kindness of nature itself.

A 32-member herd that went on a rampage in Sundargarh's Biramitrapur town, while destroying the furniture and kitchen of a house, spared a seven-day-old baby sleeping alone inside.

As elephants attacked a house, its members ran out of it in panic. In their fear, the family forgot the newborn.

Eyewitnesses standing outside in horror saw an elephant approach the child, sleeping on the floor, quietly touch her with its trunk, and turn away.

By the time the herd was done, the child had not even woken. After the elephants left, a team of forest officials following the elephants entered the house.

"The child was rescued after the elephant herd left the spot. We handed her to her mother," said Dilip Sahoo, assistant conservator of forest, Rourkela.

According to a source, the herd entered Andhari area in ward 9 of the Biramitrapur municipality and went on a damaging spree. Initially, the animals damaged the house of Phuljens Tete and Tarasius Tete and ate the rice kept in their kitchen.

Proceeding further, they walked through the house of one Sitamani Tirkey, a 58-year-old a widow, who had constructed the house under the state government's Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana.

During the attack, Sitamani, her 27-year-old daughter-inlaw Shanti, her 10-year-old grandson and the baby were in the house. Sitamani's son Basant Tirkey, 35, a farmer, was not in the house then. The herd ate the rice kept in the house, damaged the utensils and furniture.

"When we realised that our baby was left behind in the house, a chill ran down our spine. We prayed for her survival, as the elephants had already entered our house," Sitamani said. "We are thankful to god that our baby was saved," Tirkey added. Activists feel the jumbos have left behind a strong message. "By exhibiting kindness, the animals have left behind a strong message for all of us that they do not harm a person unless and until we provoke them," said Rajat Choudhry, general secretary, Lokamancha, a NGO working for human and animal rights.

As many as 50 people have died in man-elephant conflicts this year.