Man is killed by ‘armed’ chicken during a cockfight in India

A 55-year-old man was accidentally killed after a sharp blade tied to a rooster cut his abdomen during a cockfight in India.

The said fight took place in Pragadavaram village in West Godavari, in the state of Andhra Pradesh despite a ban on the practice by the Supreme Court.

The organisers tied the razor-sharp blade to the leg of the rooster, police said.

The victim, who was one of the organisers was holding the animal in his hands, waiting to release it into the arena to fight. But the rooster struggled for freedom, and the blade fatally pierced the abdomen of the spectator, inflicting a deep wound which killed him. 

The victim has been named by local media as Saripalli Venkateswara Rao, 55.  

The news of Saripalli Venkateswara Rao’s death comes after the Supreme Court of India banned cockfighting as a violation of the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. 

Before the ban was made, ten people sustained injury in the village of Kavvagunta in West Godavari District, while two people were injured in Chintam Palli village during cockfighting.

In India, cockfighting is part of celebrations for Makar Sankranti, a festival day in the Hindu calendar, dedicated to the deity Surya. Makar Sankranti was this year celebrated on Wednesday, January 15.