Indian Man Killed By ‘Armed’ Chicken

An India man has been killed during a cockfight after a sharp blade tied to a cock cut his abdomen while waiting for the duel to start.

The organisers were said to have violated the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, according to an Indian Supreme Court ruling had which banned cockfight in the country.

The cockfight took place in Pragadavaram village in West Godavari, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, as the organisers tied a razor-sharp blade to the leg of the cocks, police said.

The tragedy began when one of the organisers, Saripalli Venkateswara Rao, 55, held the cock in his hands, as he waited to release it into the arena to fight.

According to Daily Mail, the cock 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 supreme court ban was defied in several parts of East and West Godavari, as the people use the practice to celebrate Makar Sankranti.

Makar Sankranti is a cultural festival day in the Hindu calendar which the people  dedicate to the deity Surya. 

Similarly, in the village of Kavvagunta in West Godavari District, ten people were reported to have sustained injury, while two people were injured in Chintam Palli village from cockfights.

According to reports, in Andhra Pradesh in India, the raising of  fowls used for the fight is usually expensive, as the owners spend the amounts in other to prepare the fowls for such duels.