A MAN has been killed during a cockfight after a sharp blade tied to a rooster slashed his neck.
The cockfight took place in Pragadavaram village in West Godavari, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India — despite a Supreme Court ban on the practice.
Saripalli Chanavenkateshwaram Rao, 50, was punctured in the neck with a razor-sharp blade tied to the rooster’s claw on January 15, police said.
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.
Mr Rao, a devoted father-of-three, was a regular at local cockfights and was on his way to enter the rooster in a competition when it tried to break free.
A police spokesman revealed he was rushed to the hospital, where he later died from a stroke.
Cockfighting has been illegal in India since 1960, upheld in the country’s Supreme Court in 2014, but it still exists underground in the country.
However, animal fighting continues to be a problem in the country, according to Gauri Maulekhi, a trustee for India’s People for Animals foundation.
“The offenses have been made very clear and explained to the district and state authorities, but they choose to turn a blind eye towards it,” he affirmed.
In spite of clear Supreme Court rulings, cockfighting is illegal under both the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and the Andhra Pradesh Gaming Act 1974.
It is a centuries-old blood sport in which two or more specially bred birds, known as gamecocks, are placed in an enclosed pit to fight, for the primary purposes of gambling and entertainment.
A typical cockfight can last anywhere from several minutes to more than half an hour and usually results in the death of one or both birds.
Gambling is the norm at cockfights.
Thousands of dollars can exchange hands as spectators and animal owners wager large sums on their favorite birds.
The owners of birds who win the most fights in a derby (a series of cockfights) may win tens of thousands of dollars of presumably unreported income.
