Hindus told not to buy prayer items bearing deity images

THE Penang Hindu Association has urged the community not to buy prayer items which had images of deities on their packaging, Makkal Osai reported.

These included items such as camphor and incense sticks, said Association president P. Murugiah.

He said such items are sold in large quantities at major temples during festivals such as Thaipusam.

However once they are used, he said, the packaging gets discarded. A lot of it ends up on the ground and stepped on by devotees and visitors, he said.

The association has long called for manufacturers and sellers to avoid using these images, he said.

> Authorities in Colombo, Sri Lanka have arrested a man who beheaded his wife and used her head for rituals, Makkal Osai reported.

Police learnt he was hiding the head in his home after the man’s daughter lodged a police report.

She told police the unidentified mentally disturbed man claimed to have divine powers.

His family had tried to help by sending him for treatment as far as India, but he did not get better.

Things started getting worse when he claimed his family was cursed followed by his wife threatening to leave him.

This angered the man who attacked and killed his wife with a knife.