A Hindu man, who accidentally ate beef from a supermarket, wants the grocery chain to pay for a trip to India for his “purification”.
Kiwi chap, Jaswinder Paul, thought he’d purchased a lamb roast from New Zealand grocery chain Countdown last September.
However, the product was incorrectly labelled and Paul inadvertently ate beef instead, something that is strictly forbidden in the Hindu faith as the cow is regarded as sacred.
Now, Paul wants Countdown to cough-up for a trip to India so he can be purified after the unsavoury evening meal.
“According to my religion, I have to go back to my country and do sacred things for four to six weeks, and be purified by priests, so I can continue on my religious path. It’s a long process,” Paul told Stuff.co.nz.
On top of flights, meals and accommodation, Paul also wants to be compensated as he’ll have to close his business, a barber’s shop, while away.
He’s also said that family and friends refuse to talk to him following the whole beef eating fiasco.
For its part, Countdown has admitted to the error and, instead of a trip to India, has offered its aggrieved customer a $NZ200 ($A193) gift voucher instead.
A Countdown spokesperson added: “Unfortunately, in September last year, an error with our in-store labelling resulted in a pack of our beef mince being sold with both beef and lamb labels, which was incorrect and obviously very confusing,” she said.
“We’re deeply sorry that this happened. We very much appreciate and respect Mr Paul’s beliefs and certainly there was no intent to incorrectly label the product.”
However, Paul’s not happy with his gift voucher and is now threatening legal action if his demands for an all-expenses paid trip to India aren’t met.
“I don’t want to go to court against a big corporation. I just want to go home,” he said.
“I understand this looks like a simple matter, but for me this is very hard. I break my religion [vows] because of someone else’s negligence.
“I know my society back from my home will not accept me with this breach of the religion’s conditions,” he added.