In a horrifying incident, a wild elephant trampled a woman to death and then returned later to attack her dead body again when the funeral rites were in progress at a village in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, according to the local police.

Maya Murmu, was fetching water from a tubewell in Raipal village on Thursday morning when she was attacked by the beast which strayed into the village area from the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary.

The rogue elephant trampled the 70-year-old woman and left her for dead. She was taken to hospital in a critical state but could not survive, police said.

When the family members of Maya Murmu were performing her last rites in the evening, the rogue elephant came charging in and took the body from the pyre and trampled on it before withdrawing into the forest again.

The last rites were then carried out after a few hours.