Spectator bleeds to death after being sliced by a blade during cockfight

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A man in India has been killed during a cockfight after a sharp blade tied to a rooster cut his abdomen.

The cockfight took place in Pragadavaram village in West Godavari, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, despite a Supreme Court ban on the practice.

Cockfight organisers tied the razor-sharp blade to the leg of the rooster, police said.

The fatal injury was reportedly inflicted as one of the organisers held the animal in his hands, waiting to release it into the arena to fight.


Without warning, the bird suddenly struggled against his grip in a bid for freedom, and the blade fatally pierced the abdomen of a spectator who was standing nearby, inflicting a deep wound.

The victim has been named by local media as Saripalli Venkateswara Rao, 55. 

The ban on cockfighting was defied in several areas in East and West Godavari, as part of celebrations for Makar Sankranti, a festival day in the Hindu calendar, dedicated to the deity Surya. 

Makar Sankranti was this year celebrated on Wednesday, January 15. 


The Supreme Court of India has banned cockfighting as a violation of the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

Despite this, the activity has remained popular, especially in the rural coast of Andhra Pradesh around the time of the Sankranti festival, with large amount of betting involved.