A 25-year-old woman was killed and her five-year-old niece injured when a wild elephant attacked their house in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, a Forest Department official said on Thursday.
The incident took place in Bodrapara village in the Etmanagar Forest Range on Wednesday night, said Shama Faruque, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Katghora Forest Division.
The elephant tried to destroy a wall of the mud house and attacked the family while they were sleeping, she said.
While a villager, Jaikaran, managed to escape, the animal picked up his wife Chandrika Bai and slammed her on the ground, killing her instantly, the official said.
The woman's niece was injured while fleeing and is undergoing treatment at a primary health centre.
An instant relief of Rs 25,000 has been given to the kin of the deceased while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh will be released after the completion of formalities, the official added.
A herd of 40 elephants has been roaming in the area for the last few months and villagers have been shifted to Anganwadi centres and school buildings from their mud houses, Faruque said.
The victim's family had also been evacuated but they returned to their home recently, she said.
The Forest Department personnel have been tracking the herd and taking measures to prevent human-elephant conflicts, she added.
