In Delhi, peacock gets martyr-like Tricolour burial, activists fume over code violation

Tricolour burial is mark of martyrs. However, the Delhi Police chose to bestow this honour on a peacock, which is the the National Bird of India.

According to a Times of India report, last Friday, the city cops under Tilak Marg police station wrapped the body of the bird in a Tricolour and buried it in a box.

The report quoted the police officials saying that the were following the protocols as it was about the national bird of India.

‘We gave it full honour and buried it with a tricolour as it is our national bird. This is the protocol and we will follow it in the future if another such peacock comes in our custody,’ the Times of India report quoted an officer as saying.

However, the wildlife activists are not impressed. In fact, many feel that it was a violation of the Wildlife Act.

‘This is in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act as no NGO or police even can get a postmortem conducted or bury the animal. It needs to be handed over to forest department who are required to either cremate or bury the animal themselves to ensure no parts are smuggled. The correct protocol is not being followed in the case of peacock deaths and I have written to the forest department asking them to inform each police station on the procedure or to either empower them under section 55(b) of the act,’ wildlife activist Gauri Maulekhi was quoted as saying.