A 42-year-old man succumed to injuries he sustained when a bull gored him at a 'Jallikaattu' event held here today and 16 others were injured, police said. The victim, Paul Raj was rushed to a government hospital but died without responding to medical treatment. The annual bull taming event, held under the auspices of Punitha Sebastiar Church at Pugayilaipatti about 20 km from here, witnessed participation of about 200 bulls, 300 contestants and hundreds of spectators. Since January 2017, when Jallikattu resumed in Tamil Nadu after Pongal festivities, courtesy a Bill adopted in the state Assembly, approximately 27 deaths -including the one today -- have been reported so far, according to estimates. The Supreme Court had in May 2014 banned jallikattu holding the sport as violative of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Following this, Jallikattu (conducted at the beginning of the harvest festival of Pongal and went on for about a month in different regions) was not held between 2015 and 2017. In January 2017, the Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed an amendment bill to replace an ordinance for conducting the bull-taming sport. The Bill was adopted amid raging protests across the State, including at Marina Beach here, seeking the nod to hold the tratitional event. The "Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017" was piloted by the then Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and adopted by voice vote in the Assembly. It was deemed to have come into effect on the day the ordinance was issued, January 21, 2017.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)