A man accidentally dropped his phone into a donation box at a Hindu temple in India — and now the gods won't give it back.
The devotee, identified only as Dinesh, was at a South Indian temple with his family to offer prayers when he unintentionally handed out his phone instead — or rather, it slipped out of his pocket and right into the temple's metal collection bin. He then tried to get his phone back, and was shocked by the temple's response.
"Anything deposited into the offering box, even if done unintentionally, becomes part of God's account," Sekar Babu, Minister of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, explained, via Oddity Central. "As per the practices and tradition at the temples, any offering made into the hundial directly goes into the account of the deity of that temple. Rules do not permit the administration to return the offerings back to the devotees."
From Oddity Central:
Dinesh refused to give up hope of retrieving his phone and filed a complaint with the HR and CE (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments) officials requesting to be notified when the hundial would be opened. This month, when the metal box was finally opened, he was there hoping to recover his iPhone, but temple officials stood by their decision.
The temple was kind enough to allow Dinesh to recover his data, but the phone itself is in God's hands now.
Previously: God told judge to tell jury that defendant should not be convicted, so he did
