Shani Shinganapur
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Shani temple
The Times of India, July 24, 2011
In Shani Shinganapur village in Ahmednagar district, people once believed that Shani protects them from theft. They would leave their houses unlocked till a smart alec struck at a few houses and decamped with valuables. Now, the doors are firmly locked. So much for superstition.
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Lock-ups without locks
The Times of India, Dec 02 2015
Prasad Joshi
Cops bow to faith, go for lock-up without locks
Shani Shinganapur village in Mah arashtra's Ahmednagar is known for its age-old tradi tion of having houses with out doors and locks because of the belief that the presid ing deity , Shani, is going to watch over them. In keeping with this tradition, even a newly inaugurated police sta tion has a lock-up which uses nuts and bolts instead of the usual aldrop. The police station, which is barely a stone's throw from the Shani temple, has a juris diction over nine villages, in cluding Shani Shinganapur. It has registered 15 crimes in less than three months since its inauguration. Sour ces said some of the cases are serious offences. Interesting ly, Shani Shinganapur has not reported a single house breaking case till date. “We did not want to compromise on the security of the lock-up but we also had to follow the local tradition,“ said sub-inspector Vaibhav Pethkar. “The fabrication artists were aware of the difficulty we were facing and suggested using the nut-bolt arrangement instead of a conventional locking system.“ Maharashtra MoS for home Ram Shinde inaugurated the police station on September 3. The unique lockup has a 10x12ft railing that can easily slide. At one end, there are nuts and bolts. The spanner required for tightening the nuts and bolts is kept at a safe place. Not just the lockup, the entire police station does not have door aldrops. Only railings have been put up at the entry and exit points. Anti-superstition activ ists have criticised the government for succumbing to pressure from villagers and deviating from security norms while setting up the police station.
