Indian police said on Tuesday in New
Delhi that 10 kilograms of human hair had been stolen from a famous Hindu
temple in southern India. Police Officer, G-Ram Naik, said a group of thieves
took 10 bags containing “special grade” hair worth 10,965 dollars (750,000
rupees) from the Simhachalam temple. Human hair is used to make wigs and hair
extensions.
Police said the temple dedicated to an incarnation of Hindu god,
Vishnu, was located near Visakhapatnam city in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh. Naik said that many of the thousands of pilgrims to the temple shaved
off their hair and offered it to god, as a symbolic sacrifice of ego, adding
that others offered their weight in coins or sugar to the temple.
“The practice
of donating hair is common at temples in south India and temple managements
usually auction the hair, making India among the leading exporters of human
hair worldwide,’’ he said. A report said that the Tirupathi temple, also
located in Andhra Pradesh and considered India’s richest temple, was among the
biggest contributors of human hair.
Naik said the temple reportedly earned
about 2 billion rupees from online auctions of human hair annually. He said
that the police hoped to make arrests of men behind “the unusual crime soon`’.
“It seems to be an insider job; the thieves knew the value and commercial use
of the hair,’’ said Naik.
