Armed rooster bred for cockfights in Andhra Pradesh kills owner

A Sankranti rooster that was bred to kill the opponent fowl and bring a bounty has instead killed its owner.

Cockfights, a traditional Sankranti sport in Andhra Pradesh that causes the killing of thousands of roosters through the three-day festival has this time claimed a man’s life.

Saripalli Venkateshu (55) was killed on Thursday as he was fixing a razor-sharp small knife to the rooster's leg in the preparation for an arena fight in Chintalapudi of West Godavari district.

"The bird flew suddenly slashing the main thigh nerve, causing profuse bleeding. The incident shocked the man causing heart attack," M Snehitha, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jangareddigudem told DH.

It is unclear if its valiant act has helped the rooster escape the same fate.

The two Godavari districts especially the West is famous for the cockfights held during Sankranti, which are held on a grand scale despite the prohibitory laws, court orders and animal activists' protests.

State police officials stated that they have conducted awareness campaigns to desist the public from participating and strict vigilance was enforced but local media reports said that the cockfights and betting went unabated in Godavari and Krishna districts, like every year.

Hundreds of arenas are set up for the event associated with large-scale gambling, resulting in hundreds of crores of rupees changing hands. NRIs, ass well as politicians, line up with their luxury cars at the arenas built in coconut groves. In some overcrowded areas, giant screens are set up to live stream minutes of the fights.

Knives are used as it quickens the death of either of the cock thus adding to the excitement of the crowd and allowing more bets to be placed, one organiser said.

Raghurama Krishna Raju, a Lok Sabha MP, is an advocate of the cockfights as a Sankranti tradition and had earlier petitioned in the Supreme Court to allow the village sport. Raju, representing the ruling YSRCP, initiated cockfights at his residence at Bhimavaram in West Godavari a day before Bhogi and said, "We can preserve this fighter breed of cocks by continuing our culture of cockfights. Of course, use of knives and betting should not be allowed."

The cockfights ended on Thursday night.

In Jangareddigudem area alone, 120 cases were registered and 350 people were taken into custody, the police official said.

Though unconfirmed reports say one youth was killed similarly by a rooster's knife two years back in the same area, the popularity of the bloody sport seems to be present worldwide with a precedent of such bizarre death.

Reports say one Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, was killed in February 2011 in central California after stabbed in the leg by the knife attached to a rooster's limb.