Boxer Sakshi with gifted cow at her residence.

ROHTAK /CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government had in November last year given a fresh twist to the debate over cows in the country when it had gifted the bovines to six women boxers who had won medals at a national championship. But the move seems to have backfired with three boxers, who won medals at the women’s senior national boxing championship in Guwahati, returning the cows, saying they kick and don’t give milk.

“My mother served the cow for good five days. Forget giving us milk, the animal hit her thrice. In fact, my mother suffered a damaged ligament after being kicked by the cow and we immediately returned the gift,” says one of the boxers, Jyoti Gulia from Rohtak.

‘Won’t help, if cow doesn't give milk’

Jyoti Gulia said, “We are happy with our buffaloes.” The women had won medals at the Guwahati tournament, held from November 19-26. Among the boxers, Neetu Ghanghas and Sakshi Kumar from Bhiwani, and Jyoti and Shashi Chopra from Hisar had won gold medals in their respective categories. Anupama, who lives in Palwal and Neha from Kaithal had won bronze medals.

At an event held at Rohtak’s Rajiv Gandhi sports complex to honour the women, Haryana agriculture minister Om Prakash Dhankhar had said that the gifted cows would make the boxers “smart and beautiful” as they would get an abundant supply of milk.

However, so far, Jyoti, Neetu and Sakshi have returned the cows saying they do not give milk and hurt their family members with their horns.

Jyoti’s coach Vijay Hooda said a local breed of cows was given to the boxers. “If the cow won’t give any milk, it will not help the sportspersons,” he said Manoj Kumar , who is Sakshi’s father and Neetu’s uncle, also confirmed that the two women boxers returned their cows after they did not yield milk.

“Having the cows at home was almost a liability,” he said. “We thought it best to return them for our safety as the animals were very aggressive,” he added.

When Dhankhar was informed about the unpleasant experience that the three boxers had with their gifted cows, he said, “We are ready to replace them with cows with better milk yield but they need to be cared for and given some affection.”

“The cow we were gifted gave milk initially but stopped after its calf died,” says Neetu. “We informed Dhankar sir’s office and they took it back on January 3. They have also assured us they will give us a new cow.”

