This sort of thing was normal in the part of India I visited. (India is a big country; I don't know what the rest of it is like.) Cows went wherever they felt like going. If they felt like going in the road, drivers just had to accept that. One time, I saw a cow that kept trying to get into a restaurant until a waiter brought out a plate of food for it to eat outside.
I have been in this situation a number of times. Just random cows out and about, escaped from a local farm. A couple times I've gotten lucky and they were either near home, or somebody was already looking for them and just needed a hand.
Other times, you see a cow cross the road on your way to work, and find out it failed trying again on your way home.