A Kidnapped Sacrifice

I wonder - what side would Perry Mason represent... It may seem humous to us, but in the rural villages in India where a water buffalo is a very expensive piece of property and propitiation of the goddesses is essential to the continuation of an orderly cycle of life, this is serious business. Bangalore: Kidnapped buffalo story ends in court! Haveri Dec 14: This kidnap story ended in court. Nothing unusual about it. But when the victim ambled into the additional civil court premises here on Thursday under police protection and bellowed, the case made local headlines. The case relates to the kidnapping of a buffalo belonging to one village by another village. When the advocate of the complainant pleaded that as an interim measure the buffalo be given to Kanavalli as its presence was required for a religious jatra, judge Padmaprasad permitted the complainant Tippanna Mailannavar, a gram panchayat member of Kanavalli, to keep the buffalo until further orders. Tippanna told TOI that the hebuffalo was presented to the village goddess of Kanavalli by Jagadish Kattebennur in 2005. But the buffalo was kidnapped on Nov 18, 2007 by Motebennur villagers led by Bhojaraj Ballary to offer it in sacrifice to Motebennur village goddess Dyamavva in the jatra to be held from December 28, charged Tippanna. Bhojaraj Ballary, the accused, denied the kidnap charge and said the buffalo belonged to their village deity. Basavaraj Kalasur, temple trust committee member of Kanavalli, said they needed the buffalo for the village jatra scheduled to begin in the first week of January 2008. Tippanna and others lodged a complaint with Guttal police. When no action was forthcoming, he moved the Haveri court. Based on the complaint, the court appointed S M Katagi as court commissioner to bring the buffalo and the vehicle used for kidnap to the court. Accordingly, Tippanna’s advocate P V Naduvinamath along with the court commissioner Katagi and Byadagi circle police inspector brought the buffalo to Haveri court. Times News Network