COIMBATORE: A group of villagers have emerged as the emblematic representative of the adage: Get someone’s goat. While the English dictum means to make someone angry, A Maruthamutu (37) would have ample time behind the bars to ponder whether killing a python that got his friend’s goat was justified.
The python’s burnt and mutilated carcass was recovered by a team led by Pollachi Forest Range Officer A Kasilingam from the banks of Mayiladuthurai river near Sethumadai East Forest Beat on Friday evening.
An investigation revealed that one Manikumar discovered that his goat had been swallowed by a python. The desperate man roped in his friends, including Maruthamutu, to rescue the animal. However, by the time they forced the python to regurgitate, the goat had turned into a mangled mess. Apart from Maruthamutu, one Ramachandran helped Manikumar in the botched up rescue mission.
However, the demise of his goat really got the goat of Manikumar, who with the help of Maruthamutu and Ramachandran killed the python in cold blood. While Ramachandran held the reptile by its tail, Maruthamutu hacked at the head of the python. After killing the python, Manikumar roped in Kanagaraj and Jayakumar to dispose of the carcass.
A Maruthamutu, a resident of Pongaliyur in Anamalai Thaluk, was arrested while the officials are on the lookout for Ramachandran, Kanagaraj, Jayakumar and Manikumar. All hail from Mayiladuthurai near Anamalai. Sections 9, 39 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, were invoked against Maruthamutu for killing a python -- a near-threatened species. Maruthamutu was produced before the Judicial Magistrate Court-II at Pollachi and remanded for 15 days.