Idukki man stranded in forest spent 2 nights on treetop, drank river water to survive

Cheruthoni (Idukki): A man was stranded for two nights in a forest that is teeming with wild animals. After the ordeal, he managed to come out safely and arrived at a human settlement on Sunday morning.

Jomon Joseph (34), of Karinchiyil, New Mount at Upputhode in Idukki district, had lost way in the forest.

Jomon and his friend Vellakallungal Aneesh (30) had arrived to see the Anakomban viewpoint at Maniyarankudy in Vazhathope Panchayat around noon on Friday. The two took separate ways from there. Jomon went missing soon afterward. He couldn't be contacted as mobile phone was found in the switched-off mode.

The police and local people launched a search for Jomon in the area from Friday evening after Aneesh, who had returned, informed them of the matter.

"I was caught among a herd of wild elephants as I was coming down from the viewpoint. A tusker and four she-elephants charged towards me as they spotted me. I escaped from the elephant herd and reached near a stream. The mobile phone ran out of power at the spot," Jomon narrated the frightening experience.

"I climbed a tree as darkness fell. I walked along the bank of the stream after daybreak. The fear of elephants forced me to keep walking, forgetting everything else. After I got exhausted, I took water from the stream and drank it. I spent Saturday night too on a treetop near the stream," he added.

Finally, Joeman reached a human settlement near the forest fringes after resuming the trudge on Sunday morning.