JORHAT, Feb 11 � A 55-year-old farmer died this morning after a stray rhino attacked him in the Pohumora area of the river island Majuli.
Eyewitnesses said that the deceased, Puaram Nath alias Solia, was ploughing in the field early this morning when he suddenly decided to join a crowd of villagers who had gathered to chase away a rhino that had been roaming near the wetlands in the area for the past few days.
As the people started disturbing the full-grown rhino, the pachyderm got angry and charged at the people. Though several villagers could escape its attack by climbing the nearby trees, Puaram did not find anything nearer to him and kept running desperately to save his life � unfortunately, without changing his direction for diverting the attention of the ferocious rhino.
The rhino hit Puaram from behind, lifted him by its horn and dumped him over the field, causing serious injuries to his whole body. He was rushed to the Pitambar Devagoswami Civil Hospital at Majuli, but he died on the way.