Agali: A woman was trampled to death by a wild elephant that attacked her in front of her house at Attappadi even as her husband looked on haplessly.

The victim was identified as Maleeshwari (41), wife of Sivakumar, residing near the EMS colony at Kavundikkal, Agali. She is survived by children Kishor and Ritika.

The shocking incident happened during the wee hours of Thursday. Around 2 am, the couple heard their cows crying and came out to see what was happening. The rogue elephant, standing near the cowshed, charged towards them. The duo ran to the house entrance, but the tusker caught hold of Maleeshwari near the doorsteps and trampled her to death.

Though neighbours rushed to the spot, hearing the chaos, they couldn’t approach the house fearing the elephant. By the time Agali police and forest officials reached the spot and rushed her to the hospital, she had breathed her last.

The angry villagers blocked the Plamarath-Mannarkad-Anakatti road for hours. The authorities promised an instant relief of Rs 5 lakh and a temporary job to the kin of the deceased. They also agreed to immediately deploy a rapid response team to chase away the wild tusker, following which the residents backed out of the protest.