Following PETA India’s Recommendation, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs Recommends Inclusion of Sexual Violence Against Animals as an Offence Under BNS Bill 2023
For Immediate Release:
06 December 2023
Contact:
Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]
Meet Ashar; [email protected]
New Delhi – Based on recommendations made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and following the group’s meetings with senior officials, the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has recommended that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 – the proposed law to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 – include provisions to penalise acts of sexual abuse against animals. Section 377 of the IPC currently punishes sexual violence against animals, but there is no provision in the BNS Bill that affords animals the same protection. Section 377 of the IPC regards rape of an animal a non-bailable offence and carries 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”.
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 had calculated that the sexual abuse of animals was often underreported but likely committed at a similar rate to human rape cases.
“Providing the strongest level of legal protection for animals helps safeguard all our country’s citizens, as the link between cruelty to animals and violence against humans is well-known,” says PETA India Cruelty Case Division Legal Advisor and Manager Meet Ashar. “We request that the government strengthen animal protection even further by introducing and passing a strong Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act Amendment Bill in the winter session of Parliament for a safer society for all.”
PETA India notes that 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. In India, a man, who was convicted of raping and murdering a Kerala law student, had a history of raping and killing dogs and goats.
PETA India – whose motto reads, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
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