Karnataka: Viral post on crow for ‘Uttarakriye’ leaves greens furious

MANGALURU: Irked by a viral Facebook post on offering services of crow for ‘

Uttarakriye

’, animal rescuer Tauseef Ahmed has approached

Range Forest Officer

R Sridhar seeking action.


In the facebook post,

Prashanth Poojary Kapu

has stated that he will offer the services of the crow for ‘Uttarakriye’- a ritual performed by Hindus.

After a person dies, on the 11th day, family members perform ‘Uttarakirye’. Belief goes that the departed soul comes in the form of crow. Hence, a meal on plantain leaf is offered to the crows and only after a crow eats, the family members and well-wishers go ahead with their lunch. In case the crow does not eat, it is believed that the departed soul is not at peace. At many places, especially in city limits, there is a drastic fall in the crow population. Cashing on this,

Prashanth Poojary

has allegedly claimed on a social media platform that he owns a crow and is willing to take it wherever ‘Uttarakriye’ is performed and once the crow eats the meal, he would return with it.

Tauseef Ahmed told TOI, several posts of Prashanth and the crow are making rounds on internet. “I have approached RFO Sridhar asking him to look into the case. There is an audio clip that has also gone viral, where he allegedly quotes a price of Rs 1,000 for taking the crow to perform this ritual at local places and Rs 3,500 for outstation ‘Uttarakriya’. Crows should not be misused for business. When I checked his Facebook profile, I found that he has dealt with other animals like monitor lizards and pythons. He has deleted several posts now,” said Tauseef.

RFO Sridhar said he will contact his counterpart in Udupi and request him to look into the case. He said, “Animals cannot be traded.”

When contacted, Prashanth Poojary Kapu, a tailor said, “I am an animal lover and found this crow after an accidental fall from a coconut tree. Out of three crows, one survived. I do take crows for ‘Uttarakriye’, but only as a service and do not charge money. I am an animal lover and have rescued several injured animals including monitor lizard and once treated, released them into the wild”.

On the voice clip that has gone viral, he said it has been doctored and is considering filing a complaint at the cyber police station.

Meanwhile, meme on ‘crows for Uttarakriye’ is already making rounds.

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