Horse’s funeral gets K’taka village sealed

Horse’s funeral gets K’taka village sealed

Shreyas HS & Basavaraj Meeshi TNN

Belagavi:25.05.2021 

An entire village in Gokak taluk here has been sealed for 14 days after hundreds of people participated in the funeral of a horse belonging to a mutt and believed to be the local “guardian deity” against Covid-19. The 24-year-old horse died on Sunday, three days after it was let loose to roam the village “to ward off the ongoing second wave of Covid-19” and “future scourges too”.

The district police have registered a case as villagers thronged the funeral in violation of masking and distancing norms, and videos of the procession went viral. Taluk health officer Muttanna Koppad said directives have been issued to conduct 450 tests. So far, 25 villagers have undergone rapid antigen tests and all tested negative. RT-PCR tests will be conducted only on those showing Covidlike symptoms, he added.

On May 19, the horse was brought to Maradi village from the mutt on the request of residents who believe its presence will ward off all evil and plagues, including Covid. During the first wave too, the horse was made to wander in Maradi and villagers said not one person was infected in a population of about 1,200.

The horse was let loose from the mutt on the intervening night of May 19-20 after a puja and it returned around 3pm on Thursday after roaming the village. It was found dead in its shed on Sunday. Mutt authorities said the horse may have died of old age.

As news of the horse’s death spread, villagers began to gather at the mutt. They told police that the death of the “guardian deity” has come as a shock and last rites must be performed as per tradition to pacify the gods. An FIR has been filed under sections of disaster management act and Karnataka Epidemic Act among others, SP Laxman Nimbargi told TOI.