image from Wayanad rescue operation (x.com/SpokespersonMoD)

The survivors of Wayanad landslides have harrowing incidents to recollect. While escaping from a terrifying encounter with a landslide, Sujatha and her family have to tackle a herd of wild elephants on that fateful day.

When a landslide hit their house in Chooralmala early on Tuesday morning, Sujatha and her family managed to escape from the remains and climb a small hill. But on the top of the mound, they have to face-to-face with a tusker and two female elephants standing near. Drenched in downpour and fear, Sujatha says they told the elephant about their plight.

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“I mumbled a request to the elephant, saying I had just survived a disaster and asked it to spare us to allow us to lie down for the night and let someone rescue us,” TOI quotes, as Sujatha is saying.

Sujatha adds that they were very close to the tusker’s legs, but it seemed to be understood that their plight stayed there without attacking them. “I could see its eyes welling up and tears flowing from its eyes,” Sujatha says when they recounted their situation to the tusker.

“We stayed there till 6 a.m., and the elephants also stood there till we were rescued by some people in the morning,” she said.

Sujatha is currently staying in a relief camp at Meppadi GHSS.

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She has been working as a tea picker at the Harrisons Malayalam Tea Estate in Mundakkai for 18 years, TOI reports. Her family consists of her son Gigeesh, his wife Sujitha, and their children Sooraj and Mridula.

The family was asleep when water entered their house. Sujatha said that her granddaughter Mridula cried out from the ruins, and she managed to grasp her finger and pull her out. The rest of the family also survived through the rushing water and reached the mound.