In Generation I Rocket Grunts carried whips, right?
In my headcanon, the Marowak was simply whipped to death.
Also, weren't the Cubones supposed to be hunted for their skulls (instead of selling living Pokemon, as it was stated in the Origins)? I've always thought that they were selling the skulls to black market, probably in order to make expensive jewellery for rich pricks (much like elephants are hunted for ivory). It would mean that Marowak was not the only victim, it was just the most dramatic one as she was protecting her child (they probably didn't normally kill Marowaks as their skulls are probably softer or just useless for some reason).
This is how I always saw this. The Origins' version of the story was cheaper and made less sense to me.
