HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 29, 2002: A court in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has ordered the state authorities to help free a monkey that has been confined inside a temple for the last month. The monkey has been kept within the temple’s inner-most chambers in the belief that it is the reincarnation of a much loved Hindu Monkey God – Hanuman. The court issued the orders in response to a petition filed by an animal rights group, Karuna, based in Anantapur. The court directed the Anantapur district superintendent of police to send a team of veterinary doctors to examine the condition of the monkey and treat it as necessary. On its part, the well-cared-for monkey appears to show no inclination to leave the temple.
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