A handler (mahout) of an elephant was arrested on Monday after a video surfaced showing him and his assistant mercilessly thrashing the animal at the annual rejuvenation camp for temple and mutt elephants at Thekkampatti in Tamil Nadu.

In the video that has gone viral, the two — mahout Vinil Kumar and his assistant Sivaprasad —  can be seen hitting the 19-year-old female elephant Jayamalyatha on her legs with sticks. This goes on for some time while the animal, who is chained to a tree, can be heard crying in pain.

Tweeting the video, Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Praveen Kaswan wrote, “Mahout, kavadi booked for thrashing an elephant at rejuvenation camp. It was such a sad incident.” Many Twitter users called for strict action against the offenders, saying that the behaviour must not be pardoned.

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“These men must be treated in the same manner so that in future (they) must think before indulging in violence against speechless, helpless animals,” a user wrote. Another user said, “These people are rakshasas (demons)”.

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Jayamalyatha and 25 other elephants, from temples and mutts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, were brought to Thekkampatti in Coimbatore district for an annual, two-month-long rejuvenation camp on February 8. Nearly Rs 2 crore is provided by the Tamil Nadu government for this rejuvenation programme that was started by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa.