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This is an archive article published on May 10, 2010

BJP man,60 relatives shave heads for killing calf

Nearly 60 male members of a BJP leader’s extended family shaved their heads after he inadvertently crushed a newborn calf under the rear-wheel of a tractor-trolley.

Preempting social sanction,nearly 60 male members of a BJP leader’s extended family shaved their heads after he inadvertently crushed a newborn calf under the rear-wheel of a tractor-trolley in Dhamchi village of Chhatarpur district.

The family of Lakshman Yadav,a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha office-bearer,has engaged in an elaborate ritual over the past few days after he accidentally killed the calf.

In Bundelkhand region,even accidental killing of a cow or its progeny still invites sanctions like total boycott that end only when the perpetrator follows the course decided by the local panchayat. The village is located barely 10 km from Chhatarpur town.

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Yadav,however,claimed that the family did not wait for the panchayat to meet and took it upon itself to follow the age-old tradition that begins with ‘mundan’. “I went to Allahabad to get my head tonsured,” the 26-year-old told The Sunday Express. After his return most of the male members of his family followed suit.

“How can I not when I work for the BJP and gauraksha (cow protection),” he said when asked what prompted him to follow the ritual. He claimed he left his LLB studies after the second-year because working for the BJP left him with no time for studies.

“There’s nothing wrong if someone does it willingly after all it’s a long standing tradition,” said BJP MLA from Chhatarpur Lalita Yadav. She said Lakshman was powerful enough to discourage the villagers from forcing the tradition on him.

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