A young life full of promise was cut short in a brutal wild elephant attack, exposing years of ignored warnings and a broken elephant control system in Mahiyangana.
A 20-year-old girl on her way to work at a garment factory in Gemunupura, Mahiyangana, was killed in a devastating wild elephant attack that has shaken the entire region.
W.W. Ascharya Mihirani, a resident of the Viranagama Camp area under the Girandurukotte Police Division, was attacked around 6 am on the 23rd while traveling to work. She had just celebrated her 20th birthday the previous day and had taken a parcel of sweets to share with her colleagues.
Seriously injured in the wild elephant attack in Sri Lanka, she was first admitted to the Girandurukotte Regional Hospital. Due to the absence of an ambulance, she received only basic treatment for an extended period until an ambulance arrived from Damban Hospital. She was later transferred to the Mahiyangana Base Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries at around 8:45 am.
Ascharya had recently sat for the GCE Advanced Level examination and was awaiting her results.
Residents say the wild elephant menace has plagued the area for years. They claim the electric elephant fence is ineffective, reduced to wires with a non-functional battery system. Villagers also allege that the Girandurukotte Wild Elephant Control Unit was relocated for political reasons, leaving eighteen villages vulnerable.
They insist the ongoing human elephant conflict can no longer be ignored.
