Tirupati: A 17-year-old girl was killed in an attack by an elephant in Kuppam Mandal of Chittoor district.
The teenager was safeguarding agriculture fields from wild animals along with her father, when a wild tusker which might have strayed into the village from neighbouring Tamil Nadu state attacked the father and daughter duo.
Sonia, along with her father Murugan was sleeping in their agriculture fields in Parthichenu village under Kuppam Mandal, when they woke up to the sounds of the tusker damaging the crop. They tried to drive the pachyderm away but the wild animal attacked the duo killing Sonia on the spot and leaving Murugan seriously injured. He was rushed to a local government hospital for treatment.
Chittoor Divisional Forest officer Sankar suspected that the wild tusker might have entered the village from Tamil Nadu forest area. He added that the village is just 500 metres away from Tamil Nadu forests.