A man caught on camera while beating a stray dog with stick to death in Delhi has been arrested, police said on Friday. Rajkumar, a resident of Fauji Colony in Mukundpur, was filmed by neighbours menacingly beating the dog on Tuesday night. As the footage went viral, animal lovers and locals were enraged and a complaint was filed.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Outer north district, Gaurav Sharma said on the basis of the complaint and a video CD available with the police regarding the killing an FIR was registered and Rajkumar was arrested.
Rajkumar’s neighbours said the man was a habitual offender and thrashed the canine for barking near his house.
“This was not the first time that he committed the crime. I went to the locality and learned that earlier too he killed two dogs,” said Esha, a resident of South Delhi and admin of a Facebook page Save the Dog which posted the video of the incident.
“I received this video from social site. It was very disturbing to watch and we were determined to make the video popular so that the man could be put behind the bars,” said Esha, who was approached by activists of the People for Animal (an NGO that cares for the canines) after they watched the video. “It is the tendency of dogs that they bark if you tease them. A dog is harmless animal and beating amounts to cruelty. It has been defined in the PCA Act that a dog can bite the attacker in self defense,” she said.
According to police, an FIR has been registered in this case under section 429 and section 11A of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals PCA) Act at Bhalaswa Dairy police station.
“A CD of video recording of the alleged beating, subsequently leading to death of the dog was obtained by the police. Further on basis of complaint and CD available with the police regarding the incident An First Information Report (FIR) was registered and investigation was taken up,” said the DCP.
“Rajkumar has been arrested by the police team. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that when his wife was strolling with their pet dog, the dog attacked their pet dog and when his wife tried to protect their pet dog, the victim dog had bitten his wife. Filled with anger, the accused Rajkumar, beat the dog to death,” said the DCP.
“We are sure, Rajkumar will be released on bail, but, society needs to be bit polite towards the animal as they have equal right to live on the Earth as humans,” Esha said. Notably, the animal rights activists have raised concern to make PCA Act more stringent as that would act as deterrence. “We want proper investigation and punishment for Rajkumar so that no one in future dares to harm animals in a manner like this,” Esha added.
