A spectator was gored to death by a bull while nearly 25 persons sustained minor to grievous injuries in the jallikattu held at Palamedu in Madurai district on Monday. Separately, 31 persons were injured in a jallikattu held in Suriyur in Tiruchi.
The deceased S. Kalimuthu, 19, a native of Emakkalapuram near Sanarpatti in Dindigul district, was near the bull collection point, more than 200 metres away from the main play area, when an exiting bull gored him near his waist. He was rushed to the Primary Health Centre, where special medical teams deployed for the event were present.
He was immediately referred to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai city, but died on the way. Sources close to the family said Mr. Kalimuthu, a school dropout, was working in a mill as a daily wager.
Another five of the nearly 25 injured persons were also referred to the GRH, of whom one reportedly sustained grievous injuries.
Terming the death as an unfortunate event despite stringent safety measures enforced by the district administration, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao said that all efforts will be taken, including strengthening safety mechanisms at bull collection points, to avoid any untoward incident at the jallikattu in Alanganallur on Tuesday, in which Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is expected to participate.
Though around 1,000 bulls had been registered for the event, officials said that only 490 were screened by the veterinary teams on Monday, of which 31 were rejected. A total of 446 bulls finally managed to participate at the event.
Similarly, 927 of the roughly 1,150 registered bull tamers turned up for the event. A total of 227 were rejected for being unfit while the remaining 700 took part in the event on a rotation basis in seven batches of 100 each.
Though a couple of bulls also sustained injuries at the event, doctors from Department of Animal Husbandry said that the injuries were minor.
P. Mani, 22, from Palamedu, who managed to control seven bulls, was adjudged the best bull tamer at the event.
Similar to the jallikattu at Avaniapuram on Sunday, the crowd at Palamedu was relatively less compared to the previous year, when the sport triggered renewed interest among people across the State, following widespread protests that resulted in the lifting of the ban.
