There have been constant reminders from the government asking to follow social distancing norms and to follow the lockdown owing to pandemic coronavirus.
Now recently, in a shocking case, hundreds of people allegedly took out a “grand funeral procession of a cow in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh on Thursday. The video of the incident went viral on social media platforms.
According to the police, the cow was unwell for the past few days and it was living near a provisional store owned by a man identified as Dinesh Chandra Sharma. When it died, the locals perform its funeral with a band and full decoration.
For the uninitiated, cows are revered as ‘mother’ by Hindus. Their funerals are not uncommon, especially in rural India where people organise grand burials as a mark of respect.
Taking cognizance of the viral video, police have booked at least 150 people including 100 women for allegedly flouting lockdown norms. The offence was registered against 125 unidentified and 25 identified persons under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and sections 269 (act likely to spread infection) and 188 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a civil servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Anil Samaniya, civil lines circle officer, confirmed the incident and said that it took place in Memdi village on Thursday morning.
While speaking to a media portal, Sharma said that if people willingly wanted to participate in the funeral of the holy animal then he can’t stop them. He added that he was ready to face action as there was nothing wrong in burying the cow.
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