Rivers of blood flow at animal sacrifice in Raichur village

Source: DHNS

• Police looked the other way while the slaughter went on

Kushtagi, 16 Feb 2010: Devotees sacrificed thousands of rams and buffaloes at the Durugamma Devi Jathra in Donnegudda village of Kushtagi taluk on Sunday.

Though the district administration claims to have stopped animal sacrifice in Donnegudda, the gory scene at the Jathra had a different story to tell.

While the Durugamma Temple Committee members held a ‘secret buffalo sacrifice,’ hundreds of devotees sacrificed numerous rams and buffaloes. According to eye-witnesses, thousands of buffaloes and about 7,000 rams were sacrificed at the Jathra.

It is learnt that a huge crate was dug beside the temple and all the carcasses of the slaughtered animals were dumped there. Since there was no restriction on animal sacrifice, the ghastly act continued unabated and ruthlessly. The district administration had implemented stringent measures to prohibit animal sacrifice in the last two years, thanks to the pressure mounted by some of the animal welfare organisations. However, this year, there was no such measure to stop this act.

While the devotees kept sacrificing animals wherever convenient, the Revenue and the Police department officials confined themselves to the temple premises. They were utterly helpless in taking the devotees to the task.