CHENNAI: A 33-year-old man who murdered his wife’s pet dog in Velachery was arrested on Monday.
J Selvi (32) was working at a beauty parlour in Velachery and had a beagle dog named Barani. She got married to Jeganath (33), who owns a laundry shop, in 2016 and the couple shifted to a house in Sarathy Nagar in Velachery.
“Jeganath did not like Selvi having the pet dog and they had fights before their marriage. Whenever there was a misunderstanding between the couple, Jeganath would lash out at the three-year-old dog,” said an investigation officer adding “Selvi thought they could talk a way out to have the pet in their house. But on Saturday the couple got into a fight and on Sunday Selvi went to the beauty parlour without speaking to Jeganath. She had patted Barani and left for work. Since it was a holiday for Jeganath, he stayed at home and did not give food to the dog.”
The duo got into a fight after Selvi came back from work. Around 1 am on Monday, Jeganath hit the dog with sticks and iron rods. Selvi tried to stop him, but in vain. Barani died in the house and Selvi lodged a complaint with Velachery police.
The police arrested Jeganath on Monday under Section 11 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (Treating animals cruelly) & Section 428 and 429 (Mischief by killing animal) of the IPC. He was remanded under judicial custody.
This is not the first incident of cruelty towards dogs this year. On January 31, nine mongrel puppies were allegedly beaten to death by a 35-year-old man who was in an inebriated condition in Anakaputhur and on June 13, four mongrel dogs were allegedly beaten and burnt to death at Neelankarai Kapaleeswarar Nagar.