Karnataka: Monkey dies of electrocution, locals give a human-like burial

HUBBALLI: Residents of Surashettikoppa village of Kalghatagi taluk were taken aback when a female monkey, also a new mother, died after coming in contact with a live electric wire here recently.
The villagers, in a rare show of empathy, performed the last rites of the common langur and took out a procession to mourn the death. They also took care of the two infants, who refused to move away from the mother’s body.

“We garlanded the monkey, paid our respects, carried it in a procession and cremated it near a Hanuman temple in their village as per Hindu rituals generally performed during the last rites of a human,” said Shankarayya Hiremath, a farmer in village.
The incident came to light after a video of villagers trying to separate the cubs from the dead mother went viral on social media.
Kalghatagi range forest officer Shrikant Patil said that he received information about the dead common langur and two cubs on Monday evening. “We went to the spot and separated cubs from the dead mother and brought them to the centre in Kalghatagi,” he added.
“The cubs seem be 7 to 8 days old. Despite falling from the top along with their mother, they have not sustained injuries,” he added.
After keeping them under observation for two days, they were freed at the forest area near Tambur village in Kalghatagi which has a large population of common langurs.
Surashettikoppa Gram Panchayat president Santosh Hosamani said: “As it was raining and we had to wait for forest officials to reach the spot to take away the cubs, we didn’t carry it in a big procession. We took it up to the Hanuman temple after the forest officials took away the cubs, and later after performing all rituals, we buried it there. It was a heartbreaking incident,” he added.
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