Police personnel cremate monkey as per Hindu rituals
A dead monkey was cremated as per Hindu rituals by personnel of a police station in Odisha's Jajpur district. The monkey used to live on a tree in the compound of Balichandrapur Police Station. Finding it dead, the police personnel who shared a bond with the animal decided to give it a befitting cremation, instead of handing over the body to the Forest Department.
The monkey was very familiar with all our staff: Inspector-in-charge
"The monkey used to live on a tree on our police station campus. It was very familiar with all of our staff as it used to roam around and we used to give it food," said Bijayini Mallha, the Inspector-in-charge of the police station. Suddenly the monkey was found dead on Tuesday, she said, adding that the animal was old and ailing.
The animal was like a family member to us: Mallha
"We were deeply shocked over the death of the animal that was very dear to us and like a family member. Hence, we decided to perform its last rites in a befitting manner," she said. "The police personnel garlanded the dead monkey, paid respects, and carried it in a procession to the cremation site, where rituals were held as per Hindu tradition," she added.
A similar incident was reported in Karnataka earlier this month
A similar incident was reported earlier this month where residents of Surashettikoppa village in Karnataka gave a monkey a human-like burial after it died of electrocution. The monkey was cremated as per Hindu rituals. The villagers performed the last rites for the animal and also took out a mourning procession. They also took care of the two bereaved monkey cubs.
