Owner Dies After Being Cut by Blade on Chicken's Leg While Trying to Force Illegal Cockfight

Chicken Fight held at the John Bill Festival in India / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] In India, the owner of a rooster preparing for an illegal cockfight died after being stabbed by a knife attached to the rooster's leg.

According to foreign media including the BBC on the 28th, on the 23rd, in the village of Rotonur in Telangana state, southern India, the owner of a rooster preparing for an illegal cockfight was stabbed by a knife attached to the rooster's leg and died.

The owner was stabbed in the groin while trying to catch the rooster that was trying to escape from the cockfighting arena, and died from excessive bleeding while being transported to the hospital. At the time, the rooster's leg had a 7 cm knife attached.

The police stated, "The deceased owner was one of the 16 people involved in organizing the illegal cockfight," and added, "The other participants are under investigation for charges including negligent homicide and illegal gambling."

Meanwhile, cockfighting has been legally banned in India since 1960, but it still frequently occurs in rural areas such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Odisha states.

It is especially popular around the Hindu festival of Sankranti. Indian animal protection organizations have reported that thousands of chickens lose their lives in cockfighting arenas every year.

Fatal accidents caused by this also continue. In October last year, a police officer who was raiding a cockfighting arena in Northern Samar province, central Philippines, died after being cut on the left thigh by a sharp knife attached to a fighting rooster's foot.