A 50-year-old man, identified as Munna Pandit, died after being hit by a stone allegedly thrown by a monkey at Mirchai Gali locality in Patna City on Monday.
The incident occurred around 7am when Munna, who is a priest of the Jagannath temple on the banks of the Ganga, had returned from his daily morning walk and was cleaning the temple steps. After being hit by the stone, Munna was rushed to Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), where doctors declared him brought dead.
Doctors said excessive bleeding led to the victim's death.
"There is a group of simians in this area for a long time and they always create problems. We have been living under their threat for long but it seems that there is no solution. So far as the incident is concerned, today (Monday), as part of his daily routine, Munna was cleaning the temple steps when a group of passing monkeys on a nearby boundary wall hit him with a stone. Munna collapsed immediately and started bleeding. The residents rushed to the spot and he was immediately taken to NMCH but doctors pronounced him dead. The administration should now wake up and think about this issue," Saroj Kumar, who lives in an apartment in the same area, told The Telegraph.
Munna's house is located right next to the temple.
"Life is very tough because of the monkeys. We make sure that all balconies are covered so that the monkeys cannot enter our homes. The main doors have to be kept locked. But even then, sometimes we forget and have faced consequences. On three occasions, monkeys have entered my flat, have opened the refrigerator and taken away all edibles. We don't have the courage to get them out because if we react they attack us. There are many examples like this and the whole Chowk area is on the edge most of the times owing to these monkeys," said Lalit Agarwal, who lives with his family in an apartment in the same area, said. Ramesh, a local shopkeeper selling groceries, echoed him.
When contacted, officials at the environment and forests department said they had very few options.
"The monkey problem persists in many parts of the state. We have tried to relocate them in the past. Many monkeys from Patna were caught and released in the forests of Rajgir. The department had thought about a plan but it was not approved because of religious sentiments. The habitat of the monkeys has been taken over by humans and this has forced them to come in contact with the people. Under these circumstances, the department's options are limited," said S.K. Singh, the regional chief conservator of forest (Patna).