Langur shot dead in Thar for 'teasing women'

Villager says langur was friendly, living in the area for over two months

KARACHI:

A langur monkey has allegedly been shot dead in a remote area of Sindh's Tharparkar for ‘teasing’ women of the area.

The incident took place on Wednesday in the village Gadro Charan, some 25kms from Nangarparkar town of Thar district.

Confirming the killing of langur, a villager from the area told The Express Tribune that the “langur [monkey] was teasing women for some days.” He said that the villager who killed the animal was disgruntled.

The villager further stated that the langur monkey had attacked a woman on the day of the incident. “It tried to hit the woman and the man shot it dead within a few minutes,” he added.

In a video available with The Express Tribune, the residents of the village said that the langur monkey was friendly and was living in the village for the last two months.

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“It was the natural beauty of our village. It was an innocent animal but has been shot dead,” one of the villagers lamented.

The Wednesday shooting is the second such incident in the last eight months. The first langur was killed in a village near Chhachharo last year.

A senior official of the Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) said that there were four to five langurs roaming the border areas of Pakistan and India.

“They have come to Pakistan’s area during the lockdown,” he said. “These animals are not harmful and remain friendly to people,” he added.

The official said that he had witnessed a langur living in a village called Kharo Dal in the same vicinity. “The villagers feed it and are happy with its presence in the village,” he narrated.

“There is no awareness among people that animals like langurs are not harmful,” he explained.

The SWD has not recovered the body of the animal yet and has not even registered a case against any person.