Bengaluru: A video showing hundreds of people attending the funeral of a horse in Karnataka’s Belagavi district flouting all COVID-19 restrictions in force is going viral on social media platforms. The incident was reported from Maradimat, a hamlet (small village) of nearly 400 houses. Soon after the visuals of the incident went viral and came to the notice of district administration, the hamlet was sealed. Speaking about the matter, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the district administration will look into this incident, and action will be taken.

Watch the video here:

The video of the incident where one can see a large crowd assembled to pay last respects to a horse dedicated to the local deity was posted on Twitter by news agency ANI. Ever since then, the video is making rounds on the internet and is being widely shared as well as criticised by netizens.

The funeral rituals were carried out by Seer, Sri Pavadeshwar Swami on Saturday.

The funeral rituals were carried out by Seer, Sri Pavadeshwar Swami on Saturday.

As per reports, the ‘divine horse’, was attached to the Kadasiddeshwar ashram in Maradimath village, near Konnur. The horse died just two days after it was released from the ashram with a prayer to Sri Kadasiddeshwar to rid the world of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, after grazing in the village without any hindrance for two days, it died on Friday night. The funeral rituals were carried out by Seer, Sri Pavadeshwar Swami on Saturday.

The incident was reported at a time when Karnataka breached the 25,000-mark as the state reported 626 new fatalities, while 25,979 infections were added afresh on Sunday. The number of recoveries continued to outnumber new cases, with 35,573 patients getting discharged today, as the total number of infections in the state stood at 24.24 lakh, the health department said on Sunday. Out of the 25,979 new cases reported on Sunday, 7,494 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 12,407 discharges and 362 deaths. As of May 23 evening, cumulatively 24,24,904 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 25,282 deaths and 19,26,615 discharges, the Health Department said in its bulletin. The total number of active cases in the state stood at 4,72,986.