THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: A day after a video of a pet dog being tortured to death shocked the state, the police arrested three persons, including a minor boy. Sunil, 22, Sylvester, 20, and a 17-year-old boy — who fatally bludgeoned the dog that had strayed into the Adimalathura beach on Monday — were charged under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Indian Penal Code section pertaining to maiming of animals.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court has also initiated suo motu proceedings in the incident and will consider the case on Friday. The dog named ‘Bruno’ of Labrador breed was tortured reportedly after it was found resting under the boat owned by Sunil. The video shows the trio beating up the dog using a stick after hanging it on the boat with a fishing hook pierced to its chest. The episode discreetly shot by the boy somehow got leaked on social media and the barbarity triggered a huge public outcry, following which the police registered a case.
The dog’s corpse was thrown into sea by the accused despite objections from local residents, the police said. Christurajan, owner of the dog, resides close to the beach, and he along with his brother Sony used to take care of the animal.
According to the police, Sunil had some personal enmity with Christurajan. Recently, the dog was allegedly attacked by Sunil using a fishing hook for resting under his boat berthed on the beach. Following this, Sunil had an altercation with Christurajan and had reportedly warned him that he shouldn’t see the dog on the beach again.
On Friday, a division bench of the High Court comprising Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P will consider the case. The court initiated the suo motu proceedings while considering a letter sent by Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar as a public interest litigation.
‘Judiciary can’t remain passive spectator’
The letter stated that it was a matter of concern that many such incidents have been reported by the media over the past few years, and while each such instance is deplorable in itself, the sheer number of such cases and the frequency of their occurrence leads one to suspect that such cruelty is now turning habitual.
“As people, our approach to animal rights has been far from desirable. Time has now come to goad the state and its instrumentalities into taking affirmative action to safeguard the rights of animals. In a democratic republic such as ours, the judiciary cannot afford to remain a passive spectator to executive and legislative inaction in the matter of protection of animal rights,” stated the letter.