‘Borat the builder’ sacrifices a cow to the gods on Kazakhstan building site

Construction workers have sacrificed a cow to the gods on a Kazakhstan building site, leaving police puzzled as to how to treat the incident.  

The bewildering event occurred in the capital city of Nur-Sultan on Monday on the rooftop of an unfinished building. 

The cow was hoisted up to the top of the building by crane, in scenes reminiscent of something out of a Borat movie. 

Construction workers have sacrificed a cow to the gods on a Kazakhstan building site, leaving police puzzled as to how to treat the incident

The idea of slaughtering the animal came to the foreman Olzhas Yesenalin after he faced staffing issues

The idea of slaughtering the animal came to foreman Olzhas Yesenalin after he faced staffing issues. 

Speaking to local media, he said: ‘You might know that it is difficult to find good workers in our city. 

‘I had big problems in finding competent bricklayers and in such situations you can only rely on god. 

‘So I decided to perform a ritual of sacrifice on the rooftop.’ 

The ritual was performed by Mr Yesenalin and his crew after they used a crane to lift the cow to the top floor of an under-construction building. 

Mr Yesenalin added: ‘We slaughtered the cow and read prayers. 

‘Then butchered it and gave the meat to people in need.’ 

A video, filmed by witnesses, shows the last minutes of the doomed animal. The hog-tied cow is seen trying to break free while being hoisted up to the place of sacrifice

A video, filmed by witnesses, shows the last minutes of the doomed animal. The hog-tied cow is seen trying to break free while being hoisted up to the place of sacrifice. 

The witnesses, who filmed the episode, can be heard discussing it in the background of the video. 

A male voice alleged that the workers were going to cook the animal for lunch. A female voice said they were going to brick the cow up alive for an unknown reason. 

Locals harshly criticized the actions of builders after the footage emerged online, prompting a police investigation. 

Law enforcement has not yet decided whether to treat the incident as animal cruelty, which is a criminal offence, according to local media.

Police spokeswoman Elmira Shaulenova said: ‘All people involved have been identified and are being interviewed by the police. The incident is under investigation. 

‘All measures will be taken in accordance with the current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.’