Video Captures Heroic Boy Saving Grandmother From Violent Bull Attack
Video footage of a boy in India saving his grandmother from a bull attack has gone viral and highlighted the country's unique policy of letting cows and bulls roam freely throughout its borders.
The video, taken from closed-circuit TV camera (CCTV), shows a Brahman bull approach an elderly woman dressed in a sari, a draping garment, as she walks down an alleyway in Mahendragarh, a city about 87 miles west of New Delhi.
The bull, which lacked pointed horns, charged the woman, using its head to butt her into an alleyway. As the woman laid helpless on the ground, the bull loomed over her.
Then, a boy came running down the alleyway towards his grandmother. Seeing him, the bull then headbutted the child onto the street. When the child rose and tried to squeeze by the bull to reach his grandmother, the creature used its left hind leg to kick the boy in the skull.
The boy, dazed, stumbled over his grandmother until he was able to regain his composure enough to assist her.
As the child lifted the older woman, hooking his arms under her armpits from behind to bring her onto her feet, the bull charged again, headbutting the woman in her chest and sending the two people tumbling to the ground anew.
At this point, a concerned neighbor brandished a stick at the creature, striking at it from a distance while another neighbor helped the child and his elder get away.
According to Asian News International, the bull injured a total of three people, though it's unclear who the third injured individual was.
Even though beef has been consumed in India's past, the country's Hindu religion—practiced by 80 percent of its population, according to the 2011 Indian Census—reveres cows as divine and natural beings worthy of protection and respect, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
The creature's calm and milk-giving qualities also embody aspects of Lord Krisha, Indra and other maternal deities in the Hindu religions. As such, India has nearly 5 million cows roaming the countryside, according to India's 2012 livestock census.
Far-right Hindus have recently launched political and lynching campaigns against beef and leather farmers who dare harm the animals, according to the German international news outlet Deutsche Welle.
But the animals themselves can be dangerous. In fact, according to ABC News, cows kill about 22 people globally through kicking and trampling each year. Comparatively, sharks only kill five people a year annually.
Cows have also contributed to massive traffic, public health and hygiene issues as they overgraze and defecate across the country. Many go untended and starve, creating ongoing animal rights and social problems still left unsolved.
