B-town expresses anguish over pregnant elephant's death by firecrackers, demands strict action

Anushka Sharma, who often espouses the cause for animal protection, took to Instagram and wrote: "We all would urge @cmokerala to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice for this heinous crime."

Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar said all lives matter and posted: "Maybe animals are less wild and humans less human. What happened with that #elephant is heartbreaking, inhumane and unacceptable! Strict action should be taken against the culprits. #AllLivesMatter."

Demanding strictest punishment for the culprits, actress Shraddha Kapoor shared on Twitter how devastated she was with the news.

Actor Rajkummar Rao called the incident horrific and urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take necessary action.

Randeep Hooda took to Twitter to post: "An act most #inhumane to will fully feed a pineapple full of fire crackers to friendly wild pregnant #Elephant is just unacceptable..strict action should be taken against the culprits  sir 🙏🏽
@vijayanpinarayi @CMOKerala @PrakashJavdekar @moefcc @ntca_india."

Actor Vidyut Jammwal wrote: "Will this go on in the NEWWORLD post Corona??She harmed no one, damaged nothing and yet! Human beings forget humanity while this  elephant suffered for no reason. This is not an isolated case & we need to put a hard stop to this."

Bengali filmmaker Srijit Mukherjee also raised his voice against the heinous act.

In a brutal instance of animal abuse, a pregnant elephant in Kerala died after she ate a pineapple full of firecrackers offered to her by some locals.

Disturbing visuals showed the elephant dying slowly while standing in water in northern Kerala's Malappuram district.

The wild elephant had left the forest and traversed into a nearby village in search of food.

As she walked down the streets, she was offered the pineapple full of crackers by locals.

"She trusted everyone. When the pineapple she ate exploded, she must have been shocked not thinking about herself, but about the child she was going to give birth to in 18 to 20 months," forest officer Mohan Krishnan, who was part of the Rapid Response Team to rescue the elephant, wrote in an emotional note on Facebook.

The cracker reportedly exploded inside her mouth causing grave injury inside and to the tongue.

Following this, the elephant reportedly walked around the town in pain and hunger. However, she was unable to eat anything.

"She didn't harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village. She didn't crush a single home. This is why I said, she is full of goodness," Krishnan wrote.

The elephant eventually walked up to the Velliyar River and stood there. It was then photos were taken of her gradual death there.

The incident sparked protests from several people belonging to different walks of lives, who demanded action against those responsible.