A politician met a gruesome end after being set upon by a rampaging gang of monkeys at his home.
Surinder Singh Bajwa, the deputy mayor of New Delhi, India, was on the first-floor terrace of his home when he was besieged by a troop of rhesus macaques. According to neighbours, he attempted to fend them off but lost his footing amidst the pandemonium and fell.
He was immediately taken to Apollo Hospital in a critical state with severe head injuries and was declared dead the next day.
Delhi is overrun with thousands of rhesus macaques, who regularly invade homes, temples and rooftops – putting inhabitants in perpetual danger. Following his death in 2007, there was an upsurge in demands for action.
The pressure was on city planners to tackle the monkey problem once and for all – with proposals ranging from relocation schemes to more robust wildlife control measures, reports the Mirror.
Paying homage, government minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said: “Bajwaji was one of the most honest, sincere and dedicated workers of the party who worked selflessly with utmost honesty for the party, society and the nation and particularly for the uplifting of the poor and downtrodden.
“His untimely demise and in an unfortunate manner has given an irreparable loss to Delhi…he will be missed a lot.”
In describing the monkey menace, Perminder Kaur, from a west Delhi neighbourhood near the deputy mayor’s house, told the Irish Times: “Bands of monkeys routinely lay siege to our house, forcing us to keep the doors locked and to remain vigilant at all times.”
The politician’s residence was situated near a temple dedicated to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god. Hundreds of rhesus macaques would gather there daily, attracted by the food offered by scores of tourists and devotees.
Before his death, local government workers had employed a formidable monkey named Rambo for several months to safeguard its health and urban development ministries. He engaged in skirmishes with various troops of monkeys and was eventually driven away after they repeatedly teamed up against him.
In subsequent years, Delhi’s courts were compelled to grapple with how to control the burgeoning macaque population – with some advocating humane capture and others demanding stricter measures. Following Bajwa’s death, Delhi mayor Arti Mehra told The Hindu Times: “Since May this year we have managed to capture 1,250 monkeys, of whom over 450 were caught in the last 20 days.
“We are also planning to advertise in newspapers in Tamil Nadu and Assam as we’ve had good experience with monkey-catchers from these states. There are plans to increase the monkey-catching teams to 12 from the existing two. The rate for capturing the animals has also been increased.”
