By Helen Roberts A girl aged 17 has been hailed as the Elephant Whisperer in India and hopes to work with the animals after she finishes school - even though they killed her father. Nirmala Topno has been praised for being the only female in her area to handle as many as 17 wild elephants when they roam jungles and enter villages near Rourkela, eastern India. From an early age she began following her father Marino, 50, and a group of local men whenever herds of wild elephants roamed populated areas near their home. Scroll down for video Mammoth courage: 17-year-old Nirmala Topno has become a celebrity in India, where she is hailed as an elephant whisperer. She refuses to give up even after the animals trampled her father Marino to death
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Nirmala Topno was trained by father Marino in villages near Rourkela, India
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She said people 'believe I have a certain power that makes elephants listen'
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But in November Marino, 50, was killed by an angry herd in terrifying attack
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Schoolgirl stared down the animal until it left, but he had already died
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Now she has been promised a job protecting the animals from poachers
@placeholder added: ‘I changed my uniform; quickly grabbed some food and we took off.