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 The containment measures were introduced after around 400 people in
a hamlet near the town of Gokak in Karnataka state gathered at a
local Hindu monastery for the horse's funeral on Sunday, Gokak
administration official Prakash Holeppagol said.
Visuals from Reuters partner ANI showed people walking
shoulder-to-shoulder to the funeral, many without face masks, in
violation of physical distancing norms and a state-wide lockdown.
Face masks are still mandatory across much of India, which is
battling a massive wave of coronavirus infections.
"The people believed the animal to be God's horse ... it has been at
the monastery for some 23 years," Holeppagol said.
"We rushed to the spot once we learned about the gathering. We took
help from police to seal down the place quickly," Holeppagol said,
adding no one would be allowed to enter or leave the hamlet of
Maradimath for at least 14 days.
Authorities have conducted rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 on 25
people with flu-like symptoms in the hamlet so far, all of which had
negative results, he said. More tests were planned in the hamlet of
roughly 2,000 inhabitants, he said.
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 Police are also investigating
the incident after a complaint was made against
"devotees and villagers" at Maradimath for
allegedly enabling the possible spread of
COVID-19, in violation of epidemic and disaster
management laws, a first information report
(FIR) seen by Reuters showed.
The complaint was made by local government
official M.S. Teli, but did not name any
villagers in particular, according to the FIR.
Teli could not be reached for comment, while a
top district police official did not reply to
Reuters' calls and text messages seeking
comment.
Holeppagol said the horse likely died of natural
causes.
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Additional
reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru;
Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
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