Mumbai: A 19-year-old was arrested on Saturday for allegedly having unnatural sex with a stray dog in suburban Powai, a senior police official said.
As per the complainant, who is also an eyewitness, he saw the accused, Kuldeep Karotiya, taking a stray dog inside a community toilet, on Friday night and performed unnatural sex with the canine, police said, talking about the case of animal abuse
The accused got scared after being caught and asked the complainant not to reveal the incident to anyone, the official went on to add.
However, the complainant brought the matter to the notice of Powai police and lodged a complaint in this regard.
The control room, later, informed the Powai police and the accused was detained late on Friday night.
Powai police have booked the accused under section 377 (unnatural offences) of IPC, the official said.
The accused was detained last night and placed under arrest today after interrogation, he said.
Police have noted the statement of the eye-witness and interrogated the accused, the official said, adding further investigation into the matter is underway on the issue of animal abuse.
On hearing about the news, Meet Ashar, Emergency Response Coordinator, PETA India, who is also an Animal Welfare Officer(H), Government of India said, "People who are violent often start with animals as victims and then move on to humans. This case should, therefore, worry everyone. PETA calls for anyone found harming animals to be punished to the fullest extent of the law and requests the government to strengthen penalties for abusing animals – for the entire community’s safety."
He went on to add, "Several recent cases of cruelty to animals have signified the need for harsher penalties, including those in which a Bangalore woman killed eight puppies, Chennai medical students threw a puppy from a roof, and Vellore medical students tortured a monkey to death. According to mental-health and law-enforcement authorities, people who commit acts of cruelty to animals often move on to hurting humans. In a study of domestic violence victims, 60 per cent of women said that their abusive partners had harmed or killed their dogs or other animals."
