A Cambodian cow arrested by authorities last week after causing a string of traffic deaths was butchered by its owner to prevent future highway carnage, police said on Tuesday.
The large animal had repeatedly escaped its enclosure and wandered into a nearby road. Last week, a motorcyclist collided with it and was killed, local police chief Pin Doman said.
Earlier this year, the cow caused a collision between several vehicles on the same road on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh, killing five people and injuring several others, police said.
But following last week’s wreck, the cow was seized and kept at the police station for more than a day before being given to the family of the dead motorist, Pin Doman said.
Relatives returned the cow to its owner without demanding compensation, however, saying the dead man’s bad karma might have caused his fateful meeting with the wayward beast, he said.
Its owner, Kob Ry, promptly killed the cow on Sunday and sold the meat, the police chief said.
“The owner wanted to avoid trouble in the future,” he said.
Fast driving and wandering livestock often result in crashes on Cambodia’s rural highways, although human fatalities are rare. — AFP