Namakkal: At least 39 youths were injured, some of them critically, in a ‘jallikattu’ event organised at Namagiripettai near Namakkal on Saturday with 175 bulls in the fray.
The traditional Tamils’ sport held at Mullukurichi village today is in the wake of a series of ‘jallikattu’ events that have taken off in the district in the past few days after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a new legislation that enables the conduct of ‘jallikattu’ to replace the ordinance for the same.
The ‘jallikattu’ was flagged off by the AIADMK union secretary Ponnusamy and former MLA Ms. Kalavathi. The bulls from neighbouring areas including Salem and Namakkal took part in the event. About 200 bull-tamers participated and tried to tame the bulls.
However, some of the bulls were at their fiercest, badly injuring 39 youths in the process, police said. The injured youths were treated at the primary health centre in Mullukurichi and off them, eight persons were admitted to the Rasipuram government hospital. Of the latter, three youths in serious condition were referred to the Salem government hospital.
About 4,000 people from the villages of Mullukurichi and Thammapatti witnessed the ‘jallikattu’ event and the Ayilpatti police had deployed sufficient police personnel for security.
