India's test specialist Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday expressed his shock and empathy towards the brutal death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala. The test cricketer said that creatures need to be treated 'a lot better' by humans. The pregnant elephant was allegedly killed by a local in Kerela's Palakkad by feeding her cracker-stuffed pineapple.

Taking to Twitter, Rahane wrote: "We need to be a lot better in the way we treat these innocent creatures. Really ashamed of this cruel act and hope this makes everyone realize the importance of being kind towards animals and act like a human. #KeralaElephantMurder."

The elephant died in Palakkad district on May 27 standing in river Velliyar after an internal explosion took place in her mouth which left her badly wounded.

The elephant was seen standing in the river with its mouth and trunk in the water for some relief from the pain after the explosive-filled fruit exploded in its mouth.

India explosive batsman Yusuf Pathan termed the incident as "horrific and heart-wrenching" and demanded equal space for all creatures on earth.

"Heartbroken and gutted to hear what happened in Kerala. It's high time we understand all the creatures on planet earth need equal space for survival. Horrific and heart-wrenching," Pathan tweeted.

The preliminary post-mortem report of the female wild elephant at Mannarkkad Forest Division says that the immediate cause of the death of the animal was drowning followed by inhalation of water leading to lung failure. However, the report also confirmed that the elephant had suffered incapacitating wounds in its oral cavity following an explosive blast in the mouth after which it took shelter in the Velliyar river.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that an investigation is underway with a focus on three suspects in the incident of killing of the pregnant elephant in Palakkad.