Man mercilessly beats injured wild Indian Gaur in Nilgiris, video surfaces

Chennai: In yet another instance of blatant cruelty against animals, a video from Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district shows a man beating what appears to be an injured Indian Gaur (commonly known as Indian Bison). The stick-wielding man repeatedly hits the animal on its head as it was grazing on a patch of grass by the roadside in a locality known as Ketti. While the animal tries to charge at him in self-defence, it still doesn’t attack him, the video shows.

After being beaten repeatedly by the person, the animal struggles to run away from the scene, clearly indicating that it is injured or unwell. At an instant, it is seen limping and losing its step and continues to walk with much struggle.

Background voices heard in the video indicate that the attacker was needlessly provoking the animal and beating it. They also are heard yelling expletives and saying that the animal should kill the man for his dastardly and heartless actions. They are also heard expressing pity for the helpless bovine. As the man walks towards the people filming the video, they ask him why he’s unnecessarily beating the injured animal.

“If you’ve suffered a head injury and someone comes and beats you on your head, how would you feel? Is it not already injured, a poor thing? Don’t beat it, just chase it away and it’ll go. Instead, you’re beating it like a mad man,” the persons who shot the video are heard saying as the attacker approaches them.

In January this year, a wild tusker known as ‘Ronaldo’ died after miscreants hurled what looked like a burning cloth or tyre onto the elephant's head. This incident had taken place in the buffer zone of Mudumalai Tiger reserve in the Nilgiris district. The tusker was already hurt and was known for venturing to human habitations in the hope of being fed. While two arrests were made in that case, a third person is absconding for more than ten months.