Death penalty for Bnaya Ganesh? - The 'bad boy' elephant in West Bengal's Jaldapara

Image for representational purpose only

New Delhi: Usually, a death sentence is given to humans for committing a serious crime.

However, in a bizarre case, forest officials in West Bengal are considering awarding a death penalty to Bnaya Ganesh, the 'bad boy' elephant of Jaldapara National Forest for his crimes, which have earned the ire of locals and officials alike, says a report in TOI.

Bnaya Ganesh, who is notorious in the forest area, has killed eight people. 80-year-old Jaynarayan Sharma who was struck down by the young tusker on Wednesday became the last victim.

“There is a provision in law, that if an elephant is a killer and destroyer, he could be given death penalty based on his or her behavior and killing nature,” West Bengal Forest Department's wildlife head Ravikant Sinha was quoted as saying by TOI, which credited its report to Ei Samay.

Forest officials are using a female kumki elephant named Urvashi curb his criminal tendency. But to no avail as the female elephants are afraid of Bnaya Ganesh, and such preventive and containment measures have failed, added the report.