Monkeys Kill Senior Official In India
A gang of Rhesus macaques attacked the deputy mayor of New Delhi, India while he was on a balcony, resulting in his fall and subsequent death.
NEW DELHI - Wild monkeys attacked a senior government official who then fell from a balcony at his home and died Sunday, media reported.
New Delhi Deputy Mayor S.S. Bajwa was rushed to a hospital after the attack by a gang of Rhesus macaques, but succumbed to head injuries sustained in his fall, the Press Trust of India news agency and The Times of India reported.
Many government buildings, temples and residential neighborhoods in New Delhi are overrun by Rhesus macaques, which scare passers-by and occasionally bite or snatch food from unsuspecting visitors.
Last year, the Delhi High Court reprimanded city authorities for failing to stop the animals from terrifying residents and asked them to find a permanent solution to the monkey menace.
Officials in India are up against two things here. The usual human-loathing animal activists and a religion that holds that the monkeys are the physical manifestation of the monkey god Hanuman. This is now coming to a lethal head.
By feeblemind, Monday, 22 October , 2007 @ 7:48 am
I agree with your last statement Gaius. But if the government can’t do anything about the monkeys, what are they to do? Ban balconeys? One thing about government I do not like is their zeal to reduce or eliminate every known or imagined hazard that comes to their attention. Once Government starts down this road it can’t stop. Those actions will eventually lead to tyranny and make virtual slaves out of the citizenry. Sorry if I have meandered off topic.