VIRUDHUNAGAR: In an incident that recalls the beginning of Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal, caste Hindus from Kottaipatti village of Elayirampannai, near Sattur in the district, allegedly killed a dog belonging to a person of the Arundhathiyar community.
Further, the dog’s owner was allegedly threatened by the caste Hindus to withdraw the police complaint he had filed. However, after animal activists learnt of the incident they took it up with higher authorities. A complaint was filed again on Tuesday, and three people were arrested the same evening.
According to the villagers, on August 20, a female hunting dog belonging to Muniyasamy (38), an Arundhathiyar, bit a dog raised by Nagaraj (44), a caste Hindu. Angered by this, Nagaraj and his two sons, both minors, allegedly caught the hunting dog, thrashed it with a log, and stoned it. Then, they allegedly let loose two of their dogs to kill Muniyasamy’s dog. The brutal attack was videographed by locals.
“They were saying ‘how can a Dalit’s dog bite a caste Hindu’s dog?’ as they attacked the animal,” one of the villagers said, on condition of anonymity. “Further, after killing the dog, Nagaraj said that people belonging to that community should not even be rearing hunting dogs.”
That very day, Muniyasamy lodged a complaint with the police and the village elders, but withdrew the complaint after facing threats. His dog was then buried outside the village, said the villager.
Should have conducted dog’s post mortem: SP
Speaking to Express, Murugan, founder of the People For Animals Trust, said the complaint was not formally registered. “Only around 10 families belonging to the Arundhathiyar community live in the village, and so they can easily be threatened. Muniyasamy backed off and withdrew the complaint because of that,” he claimed.
According to social activist Veeraperumal, the police received letters from both parties, stating that they would not create any issue in this regard, and let the offenders off. “I insisted the police inform a veterinary doctor and conduct a postmortem, but this was not done,” he said. Finally, the issue was later taken up to the District Superintendent of Police, M Manohar, on Monday night.
Manohar told Express that the issue had started six months ago when Muniyasamy’s dog allegedly bit Nagaraj’s dog. “Back then, he warned Muniyasamy to not let it happen again. However, the same is said to have happened again now, after which Nagaraj, with his sons, allegedly killed the dog. As Muniyasamy is said to be out of town, we will be registering a case based on an animal activist’s complaint.”
“A postmortem should have been conducted. But as both the parties had arrived at a reconciliation, no police action was initiated. We will be getting a veterinarian’s opinion to proceed further,” the SP added.
Later, on Tuesday evening, based on a complaint filed by Murugan, an FIR was registered by the Elayirampannai police under Section 428 of IPC and Section 11(1)(l) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, after which Nagaraj and his sons were arrested, said police sources.