Coimbatore : The seven-year-old daughter of a member of the Forest Department’s Anti Poaching Squad was trampled to death near Azhiyar in the district last night, police said Saturday.

Chitra, wife of Murugan, along with the daughter Ranjani, residents of Navamalaipathi, a tribal hamlet, had gone to the market around 7.30 pm yesterday, police said.

When they returned after half an hour, they noticed an elephant standing in front of their house. The animal turned towards them on seeing the light from the cellphone.

Though Chitra managed to run from the area, Ranjani was caught and hurled down by the elephant before it vanished into the jungle.

The neighbours took the injured girl to the hospital in nearby Kottur, but was declared brought dead, police said, adding that the postmortem was carried out this afternoon.

Based on complaints, forest department is checking the presence of elephants in the area and assured to prevent the straying of animals near the hamlet.

The department has made an initial payment of rs.50,000 as part of the compensation and the remaining rs.3.50 lakh will be handed over to the family, they said.