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Updated: Nov 02, 2019 00:11 IST

In a first, a Mohali court on Friday awarded six-month jail to a woman found guilty of negligence after her pet dog bit a neighbour in April 2018.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹1,500 on the convict, Minakshi, who stays on rent in Phase 10 and runs a beauty parlour. However, she has been granted bail to file an appeal against the verdict.

“Minakshi, negligently omitted to keep her dog in check from biting the complainant. By doing above act of not keeping her dog in order, the dog caused injury to the complainant,” ruled the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Mohit Bansal, while convicting the woman under Sections 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code. Both sections carry a maximum jail term of six months.

A case was registered against Minakshi at the Phase 11 police station on April 21, 2018, after her neighbour Rashpal Kaur was admitted to the civil hospital in Phase 6 on being bitten by a dog.

Rashpal, who belongs to Samrala, told police that she was staying on rent with her family on the first floor of a house in Phase 10 since January 2018. Minakshi and her family had been staying on the ground floor of the same house for 18 months, she said.

Rashpal said Minakshi had adopted a stray dog about three months before the incident, and it had been staying on the ground floor as a pet. She alleged Minakshi never chained the dog.

On April 21, when Minakshi went downstairs to get milk around 8am, the dog bit her below her left elbow. She was taken to hospital for treatment. Later, she registered a complaint against Minakshi.

Alleging false implication, Minakshi said Rashpal had been bitten by a stray dog. She alleged a false case was registered against her at the behest of the landlord, as she was not vacating the house in which she was staying on rent. She had argued that police did not physically verify whether the dog was her pet or stray.

Minakshi also sought leniency on the grounds that her husband is working in some other city and her daughter is of marriageable age and son is studying. She said she also has to pay her home loan instalments.

However, the victim’s statement and doctor’s observation that it was a dog bite led to her conviction.