A man who tied a knife to the leg of his rooster for an illegal cockfight was killed after the bird panicked and stabbed him in the groin, police in Lothunur village in Telangana state, India, said Sunday.
Thangulla Satish, 45, attached a 3-inch blade to the rooster’s leg, which is standard practice to prepare the birds for the brutal sport. The bird fluttered and the knife hit Satish in the leg, causing massive blood loss. He died on the way to the hospital, officials reported.
Thousands of roosters die every year in underground fights. Bets are taken on which of the two roosters will win, “often under the watch of powerful, local politicians with big-money bets,” the New York Post reported.
Injuries to humans from the fighting roosters happen fairly regularly. The Daily Mail reported recent incidents in India, including previous injuries and also deaths:
Last month a spectator was killed when a razor blade attached to an escaping bird cut his stomach.
Last year, a man was killed when a blade attached to his bird’s leg hit him in the neck during a cockfight in Andhra Pradesh.
In 2010, a rooster killed its owner by slashing his jugular vein in West Bengal state.
The rooster was not hurt, and police said they will keep it until it can be moved to a farm. Police also said they were looking to arrest 16 people involved in organizing the illegal fight,
India banned cockfights in 1960, however, they continue in some of the southern states, and can attract hundreds of spectators.