Author of the article: Postmedia News
Publishing date: Mar 01, 2021

An illegal cockfight in southern India proved deadly for one animal owner.

The man, 45-year-old Thangulla Satish, was killed by his rooster when a knife attached to its leg slashed him in the groin, according to the Associated Press.

The AP report says the animal panicked and accidentally killed the man in Lothunur village of Telangana state.

Inspector B. Jeevan says police are on the lookout for more than a dozen people who organized the cockfight and organizers can be sentenced up to two years if found guilty.

Cockfights are common in the southern Indian states despite a ban imposed in 1960, with animal rights activists long calling for an end to the illegal practice.

The knives, blades or other sharp-edged weapons are tied to the leg of a bird to harm its opponent and the fight only ends until one animal is either dead or escapes.

Jeevan said the rooster was taken to the police station before a local poultry farm.

“We may need to produce it before the court,” he told the AP.