On April 12, visuals emerged of a funeral from Muduvarpatti village near Alanganallur in Madurai district, where scores had gathered for the final procession of a jallikattu bull. In what seems to be a clear violation of prohibitory orders imposed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, droves of villagers can be seen gathered around the bull which was covered in flowers and even a garland of cash.
The villagers were clearly paying no heed to the warning of social distancing issued by the Tamil Nadu government multiple times since the lockdown began. A procession can be seen in the visuals, with people walking close together accompanying the bull on its final journey. Women in the crowd can even be seen crying and wailing as the bull is taken away.
According to reports the bull was named Mooli and was a prize winning animal that performed well in jallikattu events. It, however, fell sick three weeks ago and stopped eating before it died this week.
While the visuals itself led to shock and disbelief in the state, reports emerged that those involved in the event were being booked for violating prohibitory orders.
When TNM spoke to the Palamedu police, under whose jurisdiction the village fell under, they completely denied that such a gathering took place.
"There was no such large gathering in the village," says the inspector. "Yes, the bull died but only about 10 people visited it. We have not filed any cases against them. We have so far arrested people who are riding triples on bikes and other such cases," he adds.
TNM then contacted the Additional Superintendent of Police Vanitha, who also reiterated the same.
"The local officers tell me that there were about 20 people there. There was no big gathering or any cases filed," she says.
When we pointed out that there is video evidence to prove the contrary, she adds that she has no knowledge of these visuals.
The District Collector and Superintendent of police were unavailable for comment.