‘Different elephants’ Jagannath temple Mahant responds to viral beating video

After Ahmedabad’s Jagannath Rathyatra, a viral video surfaced showing a mahout mercilessly beating an innocent elephant. 

Commenting on the issue, Mahant Dilipdasji Maharaj of Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad said,“The mahout did not beat the elephant with the intention of causing harm. It might have been a way to communicate in the elephant's own understanding”.

Giving absurd reasoning he said, “There was no violent intent behind it. Just like when our child misbehaves, we each have different ways to discipline them. The mahout might have tapped the elephant a few times to signal the animal not to do it”.

“No force or violence was used on the elephant. The elephant is safe, eating well, and relaxed. The elephant in the video and the one from the Rath Yatra are two different ones,” he added.

Mahant said that the temple has been caring for the elephant for years and ‘bearing its expenses’. The elephant that went berserk during rathyatra has now calmed down. 

The elephant in the viral video and the one from the rathyatra are not the same, he informed.

Notably, Gaekwad police in Ahmedabad have launched an investigation based on the complaint regarding the elephant beating. 

So far, over ten statements have been recorded. Police are also trying to determine the origin and date of the video and identify the mahout seen beating the elephant with a stick. 

There is a possibility that the video predates the rathyatra. The police are currently searching for the mahout, who is reportedly not present at the temple’s elephant shelter.