FIR Registered for Rape of Female Dog in Sangli, Following PETA India Intervention
Acting on a frantic call from a companion animal guardian regarding his female companion dog being allegedly raped in Rajaramnagar village of Sangli, PETA India worked with the Islampur Police Station to ensure that a First Information Report (FIR) was promptly registered. Based on the video evidence and support of Shri Sandip Patil, Police Inspector at Islampur Police Station, 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.
The accused, Uttam Pawar, was seen in the video to be apparently sexually abusing the female dog named Chiki. Neighbours informed companion animal guardian that the accused had been luring the dog to his premises every night, reportedly for one month, while the guardian was away at work, and subjecting her to sexual abuse. On 6 June, a concerned neighbour recorded a video from the accused’s window capturing the incident. In the footage, the accused can be seen offering food to the dog, after which he removes his clothes and restrains the dog and mounts her.
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.
Acts of cruelty to animals indicate a deep mental disturbance. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals often don’t stop there – many move on to hurting humans. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appear in its records of serial rapists and murderers.
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 confirmed that their partner had threatened, injured, or killed the animals. A study 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 been urging 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”.
Providing the strongest level of legal protection for animals helps safeguard all our country’s inhabitants, as the link between cruelty to animals and violence against humans is well-known.
