In a bizarre incident, a man in Kolkata survived the fall of an 85-kg calf that jumped on him from a roof 70 feet above the ground.
According to a report in Times Of India, 43-year-old Abdul Mannan had been shopping for groceries from a vegetable vendor in Kolkata’s Masjid Bari Lane in Tiljala when the calf fell on him. The incident took place on Sunday.
The calf had allegedly been kept captive on the roof of a four-storey building where it had been brought by one of the tenants. According to the report, other tenants of the building claimed the owner of the cow had also kept a stack of hay on the roof for the cow to graze, and even employed a helper-boy to bathe the cow.
But on Sunday, the cow grew restless and started running around the roof. Unable to get out of the roof, the restless cow allegedly broke free of its rope and jumped the 3 ft boundary wall to its death.
The TOI report also claimed that the tenant being suspected of owning the cow had left the building two months ago and had sneaked the calf onto the roof.
As the calf fell on the 43-year-old Mannan, it died on the spot, even as Mannan lay there under it in a pool of blood until bystanders took the man to a hospital. Mannan has cracks in his ribs, wounds on the back of his head, and a fracture in his left leg due to the fall. He also received several other injuries across his body and had to be given 18 stitches.