Drama as fishermen catch ‘goddesses’ in Lake Victoria

• The two fishermen were astounded after pulling out three statues weighing about 10kg each from their nets
• On their part, elders blamed fishermen for using witchcraft in their expeditions

Fishing in Syalaala Beach, Samia came to a standstill for eight hours after villagers engaged in endless debates after fishing what was believed to be an Indian goddess in Lake Victoria.

The arguments ensued for hours with majority asserting the statues be kept well so that they can be sold as scrap metal while the enterprising ones suggested they be auctioned to the highest bidder.

Normally fishermen cast their nets in the evening in anticipation of a nightlong catch which they take to markets the following day.

So last Thursday when a group of fishermen arrived at 5am for the catch, they were elated to feel that their nets were a tad weightier than normal. 

Chrispinus Ojiambo and Patrick Sanyai summoned their counterparts from other boats to help them haul the catch to the beach for sorting.

They discovered they had snared three statues believed to be Indian goddesses fitted with bracelets, each weighing an approximate 10 kilogrammes. They left the catch at the shores and called neighbouring Busembe villagers to witness the spectacle.

 “We were in our normal fishing expedition at the time we were pulling the nets from the water we realised the weight was not normal I thought it was an engine of a motorboat that capsized in the lake a while ago,” said Ojiambo. “I was shocked that those things are gods.”

Many theories cropped up with elders including Gilbart Ongweko, Bonface Wandera and Josephat Wandera blaming fishermen for employing witchcraft in their fishing expedition to warrant a “jinxed” catch.

 “Either some fisherman have decided to use unnatural means to harvest many fish because a number of them fail to catch any fish even after casting the net for many hours,” said Ongweko.

An Indian spiritual leader in Busia town, Patel Vinubhai, was unlike the villagers not shocked by the catch terming it a “normal happening.”

According to him, there are many Indian goddesses and whenever they “get damaged” or when someone wants to relocate outside the country he or she disposes them in water. “We prefer immersing them in water; because of their weight they sink, and water is holy,” says Vinubhai.

He said the statues of the goddess recovered on Thursday cannot be taken back to any temple, neither can any Indian take them home.

“They are normally made from original stones or metals and are rarely painted, able to last for many years,” he added.