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Joymala the elephant: In a disturbing incident of cruelty against animals, an elephant named Joymala, was seen being held captive and mercilessly abused in a temple of Tamil Nadu. The female tusker, reportedly was owned by someone called Girin Moran from upper Assam’s Tinsukia, who in 2011, sold the elephant to the Tamil Nadu temple through a middleman after necessary approval from the forest department. However, as per North East Now, Joymala was only temporarily leased to the Tamil Nadu government and has been forced to remain in captivity after the agreement expired in violation of the Wildlife Prevention Act, 1962. But now the elephant is counting her days in captivity at a temple in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar.
PETA India has claimed that Joymala was illegally kept at the Srivilliputhur Nachiyar Thirukovil temple for over a decade. Joymala is chained to the floor for nearly 16 hours a day and tortured with implements including pliers, the organisation claimed.
The animal rights group claimed that the mahout even used pliers to painfully twist her skin to in front of its team that went to inspect her, they added.
PETA India said her feet are ‘painfully infected’ since she is forced to spend most of her life on concrete.
PETA India’s latest exposé shows a new mahout using pliers to twist the skin of beaten and illegally held elephant Jeymalyatha.
Please help us #FreeElephantJeymalyatha now: https://t.co/Ecb0gVp48c pic.twitter.com/9dr0re4iv7
— PETA India (@PetaIndia) August 26, 2022
Assam government has decided to send a four-member team to Tamil Nadu and inspect the condition of Joymala after reports of cruelty being meted out to the jumbo surfaced. In view of the reported inhumane treatment meted out to Joymala, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held a meeting with the Forest Department in presence of Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary.
The meeting decided to send a four-member team constituted for the purpose to Tamil Nadu and inspect the condition of Joymala, the elephant which is taken from Assam to Tamil Nadu.
The team which consists of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Hirdesh Mishra as team leader, Dr. Kushal Kumar Sarma, Professor College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agriculture University as member, SP Morigaon Aparna Natarajan, member and District Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Officer, Tinsukia Dr. Rupjyoti Kakoti also a member visited Tamil Nadu on September 2 to discuss the matter with the Government of Tamil Nadu and Forest Department to pave way for return of the captive elephant Joymala to Assam.
The Tragic Story Of Joymala And Why Is Assam Govt Forced To Take Legal Action Against Tamil Nadu | EXPLAINED
Assam’s principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden MK Yadava told New Indian Express that Joymala could not be brought back to the state due to non-cooperation from the Tamil Nadu government, and that the Assam government has decided to take legal action.
Yadava added that the chief wildlife warden of Tamil Nadu, after more than a year of talks, had issued an order in April or May granting permission to take away Joymala.“However, the technical problem is that the Tamil Nadu forest department needs to take possession of the animal. It is only then that we can bring it. Otherwise, it will become a case of robbery,” Yadava was quoted as saying.
“The Tamil Nadu government had requested us to bear all expenses. We said to share your bank account details and we will transfer Rs 5 lakh. We will subsequently make the full payment of all expenses required to secure the animal,” Yadava added.
On the other hand, the Tamil Nadu government filed an affidavit in Madras High Court in a case related to temple elephants and submitted recently that as many as 63 elephants from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are in the custody of temples and individuals in the state. Out of them, 32 are with temple authority. The licence of these elephants is still with owners back in Assam from whom elephants are purchased.
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