Elephant knocks down house then saves 10-month-old baby

After an elephant saw red and destroyed a house in Bengal, India, earlier this week, it apparently had a change of heart and rescued a 10-month-old baby girl who was crying from under the debris before leaving the scene.

“We worship Lord Ganesh (the elephant god) in our village,” mother Lalita Mahato told the Times of India. "Still, I can't believe that the tusker saved my daughter after breaking down the door and smashing a wall. We watched amazed as it gently removed the debris that had fallen on her. It's a miracle."

The infant is very fortunate because the elephant has already killed at least three people in the last year.

“We ran over and were shocked to see the wall in pieces and a tusker standing over our baby. She was crying and there were huge chunks of the wall lying all around and on the cot," said father Dipak Mahato. "The tusker started moving away but when our child started crying again, it returned and used its trunk to remove the debris."

The girl was taken to Deben Mahato Sadar Hospital and treated for minor external injuries.

In addition to killing people, the elephant has damaged at least 17 houses this year.

"What's really surprising is that this elephant left the little girl alive even after damaging the house. It seems to have a heart, too," said ranger Samir Bose.

[The Times of India]