Two gored to death at jallikattu in Sirivayal, death toll rises to three

The two spectators were killed by bulls which were let loose to celebrate ‘Manjuvirattu’

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Jallikattu casualties in Tamil Nadu rose to three with two more spectators gored to death by a bull in Siravayal. Over 50 people, including tamers and spectators, were injured at the event, according to a report in The Hindu.

Villagers are said to have let unregistered bulls loose in the open to celebrate the traditional manjuvirattu, the event before jallikattu. The race was to begin at 11 am and was delayed due to the late arrival of collector G Latha and the agitated bulls, on being booed by the spectators, ran into the crowd and gored two people to death.

The deceased are identified as Ramanathan (38) from Kazhanivasal, near Karaikudi and Kasi (25) from Sevoor in Pudukottai. The injured received treatment at the Tirupattur Government Hospital, according to the report.

Further, 31 persons were injured in the Suriyur jallikattu in the outskirts of Chennai on Monday. Out of the 31, 11 were spectators, 8 were bull tamers and 12 were bull owners. The seven-hour long event saw 447 bulls brought from different villages in Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Pudukottai. The 31 injured were admitted to Tiruchi’s Mahatma Gandhi hospital, according to the report and the others were treated on the spot by the medical camp set up in the village.

The jallikattu being organised amid tight security after three years had participating bulls were cleared by a team of veterinary doctors before the race. Twenty-two tamers were also disqualified for flouting the guidelines.

The first recorded casualty in this year’s jallikattu was 19-year-old Kalimuthu, who was gored to death by a bull on Monday, after he jumped the barricade near the collection point to get a better view of the race.

According to a News18 report, Kalimuthu was a participant in the first round of the Palamedu jallikattu in Madurai.

Collector of Madurai, Veera Raghava Rao was quoted by CNN News18 saying, "Kalimuthu was out after his turn in the event and he was playing with the bull outside the arena in an open space when the bull attacked him."

Eleven participants were also injured at the Palamedu jallikattu and were immediately attended to at the on-site medical camp and sent home, according to a report by NDTV.