A cowherd has alleged that he was assaulted and verbally abused by at least seven enforcement officers from Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) when he inquired about his cattle, which had been seized by the local authority.

KT Sivanandam, 38, said he had sustained injuries on his thigh, back and head during the violence initiated by the uniformed enforcement officers at MPPP veterinary complex in Jalan Sungai, George Town at 1pm yesterday.

cowhearder assaulted by mppp officers kt sivanandam 200209 He lodged a report at the Jalan Patani police station at 1.40pm on the same day, and urged the police to investigate the matter promptly.

At a press conference in his house in Lorong Buah Pala, Bukit Gelugor today, Sivanandam claimed that he had gone to the veterinary complex after he discovered one of his 50 cattles, left to feed grass at a nearby field in Island Glades, was missing.

His suspicion was confirmed when he found that the cow was held captive at the veterinary complex.

However, he was annoyed when he saw that the cow had been painted over its body, and queried the officers on it.

This triggered a verbal argument between him and officers, and ended up with the officers kicking and punching the cowherd.

Rearing cows for 100 years

Sivanandam also claimed that one of the officers had seized a grass cutter kept in his motorcycle basket and kicked him, while he was trying to flee from the place.

He had also lost a gold chain worth RM10,000 during the fracas.

Sivanandam alleged that cowherds in Lorong Buah Pala, popularly known to locals as the ‘Indian High Chapparal’, have been constantly harassed by MPPP enforcement officers and their livestock had frequently been seized by them.

“We have been rearing cows here for more than a century.

“Over the past 10 years, we have been constantly barred from allowing our cows to feed on the fields.

“It seems the authorities do not want us to earn a living,” he told newsmen.

MPPP president Zainal Rahim Seman was unavailable for comment.