DNA tests are often used to establish paternity, but in Bihar’s Gayaji, the police is considering using one to establish ownership — of a buffalo.
Two men, Suraj Yadav and Prakash Manjhi have staked claim to the same buffalo. Yadav claims his buffalo went missing from his village, Seutar, in the Gaya district, but that he found it a week later, in the house of Prakash Manjhi, and brought it back home. This prompted a police complaint by Manjhi, who, in turn, claimed, he had legally leased the buffalo from someone.
The police’s initial solution was homespun—they simply allowed the buffalo to find its way home; it went to Yadav’s house, which incensed Manjhi enough to file a complaint under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act .
The matter has since acquired a political tinge.
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A political test, to be resolved by DNA
Former RJD MLA from Atari, Ajay Yadav alias Ranjit Yadav, approached the Magadh IG Vikas Vaibhav with Yadav’s supporters on Monday to complain how he had been victimised.
{{/usCountry}}Former RJD MLA from Atari, Ajay Yadav alias Ranjit Yadav, approached the Magadh IG Vikas Vaibhav with Yadav’s supporters on Monday to complain how he had been victimised.
{{/usCountry}}“An SC/ST case has been filed in the buffalo dispute. The money the poor man will spend in fighting the case would be much less than buying a new buffalo. Is it fair that he has to pay such a heavy price for a dispute over a bovine?,” the former MLA , asked the IG.
On Tuesday, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) Party national spokesperson Shyam Sundar Sharan met the IG and spoke up on behalf of Manjhi.
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The police officer then sought to take the problem by the horns, and ordered a DNA test, if necessary. “We have thought of the DNA test as an option as it would help us to tally it with the records of the cattle from the two claimaints to ascertain who owns the bovine,” said Vaibhav.
Police have sought records of the buffalo from both claimants. Since these will have details of lineage, police can match the DNA of the buffalo in question with that of its progenitors or siblings.
At least in Gayaji, the DNA test on the buffalo, will be the first such should the police go ahead with it.
Meanwhile, oblivious of the stir it has caused, the five-year-old bovine remains in Yadav’s house, much to the chagrin of Manjhi.