Ahmedabad: Owner of cow that killed 65-year-old man booked

AHMEDABAD: City police on Wednesday booked a man believed to own the cow that gored a 65-year-old man to death in Vinobabhavenagar in Vatva on May 11.
The deceased, Gopinath Tiwari, was a resident of Vinobabhavenagar in Vatva. The accused, Mafa Bharwad (45), is a resident of the same area and was arrested by Vatva GIDC police on Wednesday. Apart from rearing cows, Bharwad is also a land broker in the area.
“Tiwari and his family members were walking in the area on May 10 when a cow suddenly charged at him and tossed him into the air. He suffered severe injuries to his head and chest. Tiwari was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead there,” said M S Sheth, a PSI with Vatva GIDC police station and the investigating officer.
Sheth said Vatva GIDC police on May 11 registered a case of accidental death and began an investigation. As the bereaved family was to conduct the last rites in UP, police did not register a case of causing death by negligence earlier, he said. Tiwari’s son, Santosh, the complainant in the case, returned on Monday and filed his complaint on Tuesday. Police registered a case under IPC Section 304-A (causing death by negligence). On how the cops could identify the owner of the animal, Sheth said he had booked Bharwad after inquiring with several locals, who told him that the cow that gored Tiwari was owned by Bharwad.
Inspector D R Gohil of Vatva GIDC police station said that this may well be the first incident of a cattle owner being booked under charges of IPC Section 304-A.
Emphasizing the animal owner’s negligence, Gohil said, “If a stray cow or any other animal causes death of a human being, its owner should be booked for causing death by negligence.”