A wild elephant, which had got separated from its herd, killed a 48-year-old hearing impaired woman in Bankura’s Beliatore early on Wednesday.

Sources said Urmila Ghosh, a resident of Dihipara in Beliatore’s Ramharipur, had gone to relieve herself near the adjacent forest when the tusker picked her up by its trunk from behind and gored her to death with its tusks.

“Urmila was hearing impaired and remained unaware that an elephant was approaching her from behind. The elephant picked her up by its trunk when she was standing near a pond,” said a relative.

Family members said Urmila stayed with her younger sister, who is also hearing impaired and unmarried, and brother, a marginal farmer owning less than an acre of land.

Urmila’s niece, Namita Ghosh, said they started to search for her aunt when Urmila did not return home even after an hour. When they began searching for her, a villager informed them about the presence of an elephant near the pond adjacent to the forest.

“We rushed towards the pond and found her lying in a pool of blood. She was taken to the local hospital where doctors declared her dead,” said Namita.

After the incident, senior forest officers, along with representatives of local panchayats, went to the house of the deceased and handed over a cheque for Rs 3.75 lakh to the nearest kin of Urmila.

“According to the direction of the state government and the chief minister, we tried to deliver the compensation within 24 hours. We have given Rs 3.75 lakh on the spot and rest would be given very soon,” said Kalyan Rai, the Bankura North divisional forest officer. He said the death was the first such incident in this year.

The nearest kin of persons killed by elephants or tigers get a compensation of Rs 5 lakh.

“We have taken several measures to avoid human-elephant conflicts by digging up trenches and building fencings. This has helped bring down incident of deaths by elephants. We will also increase vigil in the forest to avoid such incidents,” said Rai, the DFO.