The Judicial Magistrate first-class Court at Belapur (Vashi Court) has ordered 2 men convicted of killing a female stray dog, Teddy, in 2015 in Nerul to do a month’s community service with an animal rights group.

Animal activist Aarti Chauhan of Navi Mumbai Animal Protection Cell, who had been pursuing the cruelty case, welcomed the Court’s verdict Teddy had been killed with a rod.

Activist Chauhan said that “Teddy has finally got justice. On September 11, 2015, the lovable female dog was brutally hit with a rod outside Safal Complex in Nerul. She died after being in coma for 20 days. The Nerul police were informed about the cruelty, & CCTV footage was submitted as evidence at the time".

Chauhan said that the authorities must properly monitor to ensure that full community service is performed by the convicts without skipping any days. “This is a rare order in favour of animal rights”

Several animal lovers had taken out a rally to demand ‘Justice For Teddy’ in 2015 & had also held a candlelight vigil for the mute victim.

The civil judge (junior division & JMFC) T M Deshmukh-Naik has stated in her recent final order that the convicted men — Ram Kujbihari & Akhilesh Asthana — must devote one month of free service at an animal welfare institution, while also pay Rs 20,000 each as punishment.

The criminal offence against them was registered under section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, & section 428 of IPC for killing the stray canine.

Veteran animal activist of People for Animals (PFA), Maneka Gandhi, had a different take on this issue. “If a human child had been cruelly killed with a rod, do you think the convicts would have undergone community service as punishment? I feel that there should be a sterner legal deterrent & punishment for those who commit animal cruelty,” said Gandhi.

An official from Navi Mumbai police, Bhaskar Thakur, who is in charge of court duty, told the news agency: “Since the final order was recently passed, the convicts will be given some time before starting community service, in case they want to appeal to a higher court.”

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the LatestLaws staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Source Link

Picture Source :