A total of 55 persons including 41 spectators and 14 tamers were injured in jallikattu (taming the bull) held at Kosavapatti village as part of Uthariya Madha Church festival on Saturday. A total of 300 bulls and 400 tamers participated in the event.
Eight critically injured were rushed to the Dindigul Government Hospital. A tamer's leg was broken in the attack.
Response from bull owners and tamers was good as the village celebrated jallikattu after a gap of three years. Even as several bull owners took their bulls to Alanganallur jallikattu held in Madurai on the same day, still Kosavapatti village attracted 300 bulls, mostly from villagers around Natham, Dindigul and nearby areas.
Tamers had a tough time in controlling the bulls as they were posing grave threat to them. Several well-trained bulls stood in the field and did not allow them to touch. Some brave tamers proved their valour in the field and grabbed gifts. Prizes ranging from stainless steel vessels, gold coins, bicycles, cots and almirahs worth Rs.3 lakh were given to bull owners and tamers.
Earlier, the tamers took an oath not to hurt the bulls and thanked the students who fought for lifting the ban on conducting jallikattu. Heavy police were deployed at the village.
Organisers strictly followed the guidelines denying prizes to tamers who violated rules. If two tamers caught a bull, the prize automatically went to the bull owner. The organisers had issued 500 t-shirts to tamers. But 400 tamers took part in the event.
The crowd was heavy and unmanageable as the roads were narrow. Bulls stood at each and every corner of the village. Brushing aside cautions and repeated warning by the organisers and the police, a section of spectators behaved in an unruly manner. At one stage, a police team jumped into the arena and regulated the players and another team climbed on the galleries and pulled down problem creators. Still, several spectators were seen perched on the barricade, compound walls and buildings under construction.
