Dressed in a white shirt and lungi, a Kerala youngster appears quite confident as he approaches an elephant standing in a rubber estate, munching on palm leaves. The man has a plastic cover in hand and as he steps closer to the elephant, he takes out some bananas and proceeds to feed the animal.
The elephant is fed one banana after the other, in a quest to establish a rapport. In a gesture asking for more bananas, the elephant extends its trunk forward, to which the man obliged, all the while talking animatedly with the elephant.
After feeding the elephant, the man holds both its tusks and leans forward to kiss the animal on its trunk. His first attempt turns out to be a success. Elated, the man tries to do the same again. As he does it, the man's friends who are live-streaming the entire incident on Facebook, warn him.
"Don't do it, you are drunk, don't do it. The elephant will get mad," one of the men says.
However, the man proceeds without paying heed to the warnings and minutes later is seen lying in a clump on the ground, ten feet away. The elephant, wary of the man’s motives, had flung him in the air with one swift movement.
Whether the young man intended to imitate the popular scene from Baahubali by taming an elephant, or perform his own version of an elephant stunt, the man soon lost consciousness.
Although the Facebook live video was taken down, the video is being widely circulated on social media platforms.
This incident reportedly happened in Karimannoor in Kerala’s Idukki district. According to reports, the man in the video is Thodupuzha-native Jinu John, who happened to see the lone elephant while passing by the area with his friends on a scooter. The incident reportedly happened around 3 pm on Sunday, 12 November.
According to reports, Jinu was admitted to the hospital for treatment following the incident.
When TNM reached out to Karimannoor police, the Sub-Inspector said that although he had seen the video that is said to be from Thodupuzha, the police is trying to locate the men involved in the incident.
(This article was originally published in The News Minute)
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