The human side of S R Mahesh, the JD(S) MLA from KR Nagar, and his family came to the fore on Friday as they cut short their foreign trip to attend the last rites of their pet monkey.

Chintu was electrocuted at the family’s farmhouse at Saligrama in KR Nagar taluk on Thursday night, when the MLA and his family was away in Singapore. The family rushed back home on coming to know about the simian’s death. The legislator performed Chintu’s last rites at the farmhouse on Friday.

The monkey was in the farmhouse for the last three years, after it was separated from its colony.

“Chintu used to be with Mahesh and the family members whenever they visited the farmhouse. He used to hold the hands of the MLA as soon as he alighted from the car,” said Mahesh’s driver Somu.