Female Dog Sexually Abused in Varanasi— FIR Registered Following PETA India Intervention to Protect ALL Females
Acting on a frantic call from a community animal caretaker regarding a lactating community dog sexually abused in Ranipur Mahmoorganj of Varanasi, PETA India worked with Deep Mala Singh, the dog’s local caregiver, Shri Durga Singh, Station House Officer at Bhelupur Police Station and Shri Manoj Singh, Chowki In Charge, to ensure that a First Information Report (FIR) was promptly registered. Based on the video evidence apparently showing the accused, Bhagan Das, sexually abusing the female dog with his hands, the FIR was registered against the accused under Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Section 11(1)(a) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
In 2021, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations released a report revealing that in the decade prior, nearly 500,000 animals – including cows and dogs – were victims of crimes and many had been subjected to sexual violence. Previously, a Voice of Stray Dogs report calculated that the sexual abuse of animals was often underreported but likely committed at a similar rate to human rape cases.
Many violent criminals have a documented history of cruelty to animals. A study published in the Journal of Emotional Abuse found that 71% of women with companion animals who sought shelter from abuse at a safe home reported that their partner had threatened, injured, or killed the animals. A paper published in Forensic Research and Criminology International Journal warns, “Those who engage in cruelty to animals were [three] times more likely to commit other crimes, including murder, rape, robbery, assault, harassment, threats, and drug/substance abuse. The major motivations for engaging in cruelty to animals include anger, fun, control, fear, dislike, revenge, imitation, and sexual pleasure.” In India, Ameerul Islam, who was convicted of raping and murdering a Kerala law student, Jisha, had a history of raping and killing dogs and goats.
PETA India has requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to bring an amendment in the BNS to specifically penalise sexual abuse of animals. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, punished sexual violence against animals, but there is no provision in the BNS that affords animals the same protection. Section 377 of the IPC regarded rape of an animal as a non-bailable offence and carried a punishment of “[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine”.
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