Rajanna Sircilla: FIR Registered for Goat Sacrifice Following Intervention by PETA India and SAFI Hyderabad

After learning that a group of men had sacrificed a goat at Chinna Lingapur, Thangallapally Mandal, on 2 October, PETA India, in coordination with the Stray Animal Foundation of India (SAFI), successfully facilitated the registration of a first information report (FIR) at Thangallapalli Police Station on 18 October.

The cruel incident was caught on video, which shows men surrounding a frightened goat. The video then shows the goat, fully conscious, being beheaded with an axe and the slaughter taking place in full public view.

PETA India coordinated with the Thangallapalli Police Station to register the FIR, following a complaint filed by Mr Adulapuram Goutham, Cruelty Prevention Manager at SAFI, Hyderabad. The FIR has been registered against the individual seen in the video under Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and Section 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(l) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.

Section 325 of the BNS, 2023, categorises the maiming or killing of any animal as a cognisable offence and prescribes a punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with a fine, or with both. Section 6 of the Telangana Animals and Birds Sacrifices Prohibition (TABSP) Act, 1950, makes it punishable for any person to knowingly allow any sacrifice to be performed at any place that is in their possession or under their control, as well as for anyone who officiates, performs, or participates in the sacrifice of an animal in any congregation. Section 11 of the PCA Act, 1960, defines “cruelty” and makes the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering upon any animal a punishable offence.

The Supreme Court has ordered that animals can be slaughtered only in licensed slaughterhouses and that municipal authorities must ensure compliance with this ruling. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001, and the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, permit the slaughter of animals for food only in licensed slaughterhouses equipped with species-specific stunning equipment.

Gujarat, Kerala, Puducherry, and Rajasthan already have specific laws in place prohibiting the religious sacrifice of any animal in any temple or its precinct. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana prohibit it in any place of public religious worship, adoration, or its precinct, or in any congregation or procession connected with religious worship on a public street.