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Journalism of Courage
A disturbing video of animal abuse in West Bengal’s Medinipur district has sparked widespread outrage. Several people, particularly a man, were seen harassing a wild elephant by pulling its tail and further provoking the herd by throwing stones at them.
The now-viral video shows a group of men dangerously close to a herd of elephants that had wandered into a village near a forest area. In a reckless act, one man sneaks up behind an elephant and pulls its tail. The elephant, clearly startled, moves away as the man laughs and runs off. In the video, individuals are also seen hurling stones at the herd, further agitating the wild animals.
Sharing the video, an Instagram handle @streetdogsofbombay wrote, “A mob of humans is throwing stones and pulling an elephant’s tail for FUN! Yes, the ELEPHANTS are two, and yes, the chaos is entirely caused by people. Tell me — who’s really wild here? The majestic giants… or the humans acting like animals?”
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Under India’s Wildlife Protection Act, any act of harassing or provoking wild animals is a punishable offense. The viral video has triggered widespread calls for legal action against those involved, with many social media users demanding strict punishment. “The elephant was far too gentle, civilised and kind to not trample over the human or throw him in the air,” an Instagram user wrote.
“Such backward people… Education is very important, but there are uneducated people too who are kind towards animals. This is really very sad to see… India’s law for animals is like shit… That’s y all this is happening everywhere everyday,” a third user reacted. “Cheap, I feel disgusted after watching this. I Feel ashamed to say they are humans,” said a fourth user.
