GUWAHATI: A team of experts from Assam will examine the health of Joymala – the elephant – at the Srivilliputhur temple near Madurai in Tamil Nadu on Monday.
Joymala– the elephant – from Assam, has been held captive at the Srivilliputhur temple near Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Notably, the Gauhati high court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to allow the experts’ team from Assam to visit Joymala and check on her health condition.
Moreover, the Gauhati high court also ordered the Tamil Nadu government to provide adequate security to the experts’ team from Assam, when it will visit Joymala.
“Our team has experts who will examine under what conditions Joymala has been kept,” MK Yadava, PCCF, Assam, told TOI.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Two members of the team – Morigaon SP Aparna Natarajan and noted veterinarian KK Sarma rushed to Madurai on Sunday.
Hridesh Mishra, additional PCCF, Assam, and Rupjyoti Kakati, district veterinary officer, Tinsukia, are already camping in Tamil Nadu.
On the other hand, the tussle for custody of Joymala – the elephant – between the state governments of Assam and Tamil Nadu has intensified.
The Tamil Nadu government has clearly stated that it will not return the elephants that it received from Assam.
On Thursday last, the Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras high court that it has no intention of returning the elephants to Assam.
Joymala, an elephant from Assam, which is now in the captivity at Srivilliputhur Andal Temple in Tamil Nadu, is at the centre of a major hullabaloo.
Joymala drew attention of the media after animal rights organization PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) posted a video that it claimed had been taken during a veterinary inspection of the elephant.
The PETA video claimed the elephant is being kept illegally at the temple.
“Here, she is being beaten in the sacred sanctum sanctorum of Krishnan Kovil…In 2021, she was tied to a tree and beaten ruthlessly,” it said, with visuals of an elephant being beaten.
However, the Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the PETA video is FAKE.
The elephant Joymala is “absolutely doing good,” the Tamil Nadu government said.