Trichy/Madurai/Salem: Seven people, including six spectators, lost their lives, and more than 400 others were injured during various jallikattu and related bull-taming events held across Tamil Nadu on Thursday.
Among the fatalities, one person died from injuries at Siravayal manjuvirattu in Sivaganga district after being gored by a bull. Another victim, a spectator at the Alanganallur jallikattu in Madurai, also died. Two more deaths occurred in separate jallikattu events in central Tamil Nadu.
A 30-year-old man died during an eruthu vidum vizha, a variant of bull racing, in Basthalapalli, Krishnagiri district. In Salem’s Sentharapatti jallikattu, a 45-year-old man was fatally attacked by a bull. Additionally, a bull owner drowned in a tank while trying to retrieve his bull that had fled from the Siravayal arena.
In total, 156 people were injured across jallikattu events in Pudukottai, Karur, and Trichy districts. The man who was gored to death at Siravayal was identified as S Subbaiah, 42, from Devakottai. At Alanganallur, 76 people, including 17 bull owners and 33 spectators, were injured. Among them, P Periasamy, 56, of Mettupatti, died despite treatment.
In Pudukottai, S Perumal, 70, was killed when a bull, which had fled the arena at Mangadevanpatti, collided with him while he was waiting at a bus stop. Ten others were injured during the event, which featured 607 bulls and 300 tamers.
Another fatality occurred at the jallikattu held at Ratchandar Thirumalai (RT Malai) in Karur district, where 65-year-old Kuzhandhaivel from Samuthiram in Trichy died after a bull encounter. He was taken to MGMGH in Trichy but succumbed to his injuries. RT Malai, flagged off by Minister V Senthilbalaji, resulted in 52 injuries. The event offered a car to the best bull owner and a motorcycle to the top tamer, as per the promises made by Chief Minister M K Stalin and Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Pudukottai district hosted another jallikattu at Vanniyan Viduthi, flagged off by Minister Siva V Meyyanathan, with 638 bulls and 232 tamers participating. Thirty-eight people were injured and treated on-site. Meanwhile, 56 individuals, including 25 spectators, 21 bull tamers, and 10 bull owners, were injured at the jallikattu held at Avarangadu in Trichy, which involved 590 bulls and 237 tamers.
