A mahout was precariously injured after he was attacked by an elephant while walking along with it in a religious procession in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

The incident took place on 06 March at Chembuchira festival ground in Trichur district.

The video shows the elephant by the name of Paampumekkattu Saarangapany walking along with the mahout called Prasaadh.

Suddenly the elephant rammed into the mahout with its tusk and tossed him across the road.

Locals rushed to his rescue and the mahout was shifted to a nearby hospital.

He is undergoing treatment for a bleeding lung.

According to locals, elephants have previously attacked mahouts owing to the severe torture inflicted on the animals by them.

Kerala is home to around a fifth of these 2,454 domesticated pachyderms in India.

There have been 34 elephant deaths reported in the state in 2018 alone, mostly due to lack of rest and poor upkeep of the animals.