Jorhat/Dibrugarh, Jan. 16: Bhupeswar Ningda of Imthong Catatong village is inconsolable. Two days after Kalia, the hoolock gibbon he had raised so lovingly was killed, he is preparing to hold the doha, a ceremony held on the 10th day as a part of funeral rituals after a person passes away.

"Kalia was a family member. I fed her regularly with bananas and other fruits, bread or a bowl of rice, as she frequented my house. I had adopted her though she was the pet of the whole area," he told over phone.

Imthong Catatong is 8km from Margherita in Tinsukia district, 210km from here and about 550km from Guwahati. It is populated by the Singphos and with a smattering of Nepalis, Tai Phakes and some other communities. The forest department, which had been informed, has filed an FIR against the killing of the gibbon and a case (number /16) was registered at Margherita police station. Padum Barpatra Gohain, the Digboi range officer (east and west), said the gibbon had been hit on the head with a sharp instrument. The post-mortem report is awaited. "The police are investigating and the culprits will be brought to book," he added.

Ningda alleged that Moni and his father Debajeet Chetia had killed the gibbon after it bit Moni. "The child was teasing the holou bandor (hoolock gibbon) with a catapult and was attacked in return. The father rushed to his son's aid and hit the gibbon with a shovel," one villager alleged. Ningda said if there been trees she would have escaped but she had alighted to play with a few puppies and was trapped. "It was the day people all over the state were celebrating Magh Bihu that I lost her," he lamented. Ningda said he missed Kalia terribly. "She came here in the eighties with a mate and they soon had a child. The male died and the baby gibbon was killed by a dog. In the nineties, I started taking care of her and we were great friends," he added.

Ningda said she "never ate more than one papaya from his tree even if there were four or more hanging from it. It was because of Kalia that we all had fruits and other vegetables growing in our gardens. Other monkeys did not dare to come, as in other nearby villages, because of her".

Ningda said visitors from the US, the UK, France, Singapore, Thailand, China, Germany and other places would come to his house to be photographed with Kalia or film her. Fans of Kalia have put up her photographs on Facebook and other social media.

Debojit Mahanta, the officer in-charge of Margherita police station, said a case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. He added that nearly 50 women with small children had come to the police station and complained that their children were the "victims" of the gibbon.

"The killing of Kalia is a great loss. We have organised a meeting tomorrow for the conservation of the hoolock gibbon at Ketetong and appeal to all the villagers not to kill the endangered species," said Ranjan Kumar Das, DFO, Digboi forest division.