A man was killed during a cockfight after a sharp blade tied to a rooster cut his abdomen in India.
The cockfight took place in Pragadavaram village in West Godavari, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, as cockfight organisers tied the razor-sharp blade to the leg of the rooster.
The fatal injury was reportedly inflicted as one of the organisers held the animal in his hands, waiting to release it into the arena to fight.
Without warning, the bird suddenly struggled against his grip in a bid for freedom, and the blade fatally pierced the abdomen of a spectator who was standing nearby, inflicting a deep wound.
The victim has been named by local media as Saripalli Venkateswara Rao, 55. He was taken to the hospital but succumbed to his wounds on his way.
The top Indian court has banned cockfighting as a violation of the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act but the practice still continues in the parts of the country unabated and has remained popular, especially in the rural coast of Andhra Pradesh around the time of the Sankranti festival, with a large amount of betting involved.
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In Andhra Pradesh, the fowls are raised at extraordinarily high expenses to brace them for the do–or–die contest.
Proteins and nutrient-rich foods like almonds and cashew nuts besides minced mutton and muscle pumping steroids and antibiotics are given for about a year or even longer to raise the prized cocks.
Knockout fights are staged till one bird is either critically injured or dead. Sharp blades are tied to the fighter bird’s limbs.
