Cow substitute to mother and God, says Hyderabad HC judge

Cattle trader Ramavath Hanuma had moved the HC after a trial court in Nalgonda had rejected his petition for custody of 65 bovines which were seized from him. The cattle were seized from Kanchanapalli village and Hanuma had insisted that he had brought them there for grazing. The prosecution had alleged that Hanuma, along with other accused, had bought the cattle from farmers for slaughtering them so that cow meat could be distributed during the Bakrid festival.


Dismissing Hanuma's plea, Justice Rao said there was no need to interfere in the trial court's order. "Whether a person is entitled to claim interim custody of cows and bulls seized from him when he was allegedly taking them to a slaughter house? This question needs to be posed and answered in view of the national importance of cows which are substitutes to Mother and God," Justice Rao said in his order.