HYDERABAD: An illegal cockfighting event turned fatal, not just for the cocks, but for a man in Telangana, who bled to death after a knife attached to the leg of his rooster accidentally cut into his groin.
After being grievously injured by the ‘kodi kathi’, as the knife is called locally, he was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival, making it the first such death in many years.
The ‘kodi kathi’, which is usually three inches long, sometimes has the provision for extending it by another three inches.
Though cockfights are banned, a group of people organised a secret one in Lothunur village in Jagtial district. They gathered near the premises of the Yellamma temple in the village on Monday evening.
Witnesses said Thanugulla Satish of Kondapur village tied a three-inch 'kodi kathi’ to the foot of the cock, he owned.
“As he was leaving it for the fight, the cock jumped and the knife pierced him in the groin region. It was a severe injury and the person lost a lot of blood. Initially, people around him took him in an auto to reach the hospital but subsequently when the 108 ambulance arrived, he was shifted into it. When they reached the hospital in Jagtial, he was declared brought dead,” Jeevan, station house officer (SHO) of Gollapalli police station told TOI on Tuesday.
Gollapalli SHO said those who organized and participated in the cockfight would also be held responsible for Satish’s death.
A kodi kathi that was used to attack YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the Visakhapatnam airport in October 2018, six months before he won a landmark election and become the Andhra Pradesh CM.