PHOTO: AFP
Muhammad Hamid, a witness, told The Express Tribune that the ox had been brought from Gujranwala. Its owner, Fayyaz, planned to sell it at a cattle market on the outskirts of Multan. He said when the ox was unloaded, it hit Fayyaz and escaped.
Hamid said the ox fled towards Basti Balail, near Shujabad.
Ahmed Ali, another witness, said the cattle market had no boundary walls to stop the ox from escaping. He said the ox hit several people working in the fields.
Hamid said initially more than 600 farmers and cattle vendors tried to control the ox. He said they hit it with sticks and tried to distract it. He said 12 people were injured in the effort.
On being informed, a police team later arrived on the scene and joined hands with them.
“The charged ox hit two policemen,” he said.
He said the police team and some residents of the area then shot it down.
He said the injured were rushed to Nishtar Hospital in Multan where 68-year-old peasant Abdul Ghafoor died. Doctors said two others were in a critical condition.
Fayyaz, the owner, was also taken to Nishtar Hospital with three fractures. Talking to The Express Tribune, he said the ox was selling for Rs600,000 in Gujranwala. “I brought it to Multan because I heard that it could sell for Rs800,000 here.”
He said the district administration should have constructed a wall around the cattle market to stop the ox from bolting. He urged the district administration to build a wall around the cattle market to prevent more such incidents.
Meanwhile, some women in the area said the incident was a good omen. “It has given us an excuse to teach our children not to play with wild animals. Many of them are too scared to go out now,” said Shumaila Bibi, a mother of three.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2015.
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