Stray cow attacks 9-yr-old girl, owner booked

CHENNAI: Following the incident of a cow attacking a nine-year-old school girl in MMDA Colony surfaced on social media, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials have caught the cattle and put it in custody. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against the owner of the cow based on the complaint by the girl’s parents.

The girl, Ayesha, daughter of Jafar Siddique Ali was returning with her younger brother Ummar, when the cow attacked her in R Block in MMDA colony in Arumbakkam. A CCTV video of the incident showed the cow lifting the girl with its horns and stamping her with its legs while onlookers try to stop the animal by pelting stones at it.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian and Chennai Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan along with officials on Thursday visited the girl at the Billroth Hospital.

Talking to the reporters, the Health Minister said the child has suffered an injury in the head and near the eyes and is stable now. She did not incur any fractures.

The cow was later caught by the civic authorities using animal catching vehicles and was taken to the Corporation cattle sheds in Perambur.

GCC commissioner J Radhakrishnan said that there are 15 vehicles for catching stray animals in the city, with one vehicle in each zone. These vehicles at least catch about 500 cows roaming in the streets every month. However, the owners pay the fine and get their cattle back on the same day but again leave them on the roads, he said. “We thought the cow might be aggressive but it’s eating normally now. We are taking necessary steps to send it to Veterinary College in Vepery for observation,” he said.

“We have the capacity to capture 60 cows and 2,809 cows have been impounded so far this year and a fine amount of Rs 51.7 lakh has been collected from their owners in the last six months. We have rules stating that the cow owners should have a minimum of 36 square feet of place to keep the cows. But, many people raise cows by keeping them only on the streets. We are planning to take action against such cattle owners and recover the cows from them,” said the commissioner.

Stray cattle are caught and the owners are fined Rs 2,000 along with maintenance cost of the caught cows for two days. If the owner of the captured cows does not pay the fine within two days and recover the cows, Rs 200 per day is charged as maintenance fee for maintaining the cows from the third day.

After the cows are captured, the zonal officials release the cows based on the affidavit submitted by the owners to take them out of the cowshed after getting the recommendation and signatures of the Veterinary Assistant Inspector and the police inspector within the respective Corporation zone where the cow is caught. However, when a cow is caught for the third time, the cow will not be returned to the owner and will be handed over to the Blue Cross Society.