UP: Elderly man smeared with cow dung, dirt 'to bring rain' in Gorakhpur

85-year-old Jagdish Pandey was reciting the Ramayana when some youths poured cow dung and dirt on him after someone told them that the act will “appease the rain god Indra''.

Gorakhpur: In another act of superstition reported from Uttar Pradesh aimed “to please the rain god”, villagers in Govindpur village of Pipraich police station area in Gorakhpur on Tuesday smeared an elderly man with cow dung and dirt in a belief that doing so will bring rain. 85-year-old Jagdish Pandey was reciting the Ramayana when some youths poured cow dung and dirt on him after someone told them that the act will “appease the rain god Indra''.

Agitated with the offense, the elderly called the PRV jawans and later approached the police at Pipraich police station to register a case against the accused Golu Singh, Raju, Devendra Bahadur-all of whom are absconding from the spot. Earlier on Wednesday, a group of people had organised a wedding of frogs to appease the rain god in Gorakhpur.

The 'wedding' was held on Tuesday night with all rituals according to the Hindu tradition. Radhakant Verma, who organised the event, said, "It is a time-tested belief that frog weddings are held to bring in rains. We have had a long dry spell and farmers, in particular, are upset over the delay in sowing paddy." A day before, a farmer reportedly filed a complaint against, the 'rain god' Indra Dev seeking action against him for lack of rain and drought conditions.