Disclaimer: The article contains gruesome details of the incident, hence reader’s discretion is advised.

Recently, a female dog was found dead in the lower terrace of F-Block, Hall 12. The death did not seem natural, as there was a pool of blood around the victim along with rods that had blood, hair and flesh on them, pointing towards a human-committed murder. Although the time of occurrence of the barbaric act remains uncertain, Animal Welfare Cell (AWC) member, Mr. Aditya Desai, told Vox that they were informed about this on the night of 26th May, 2019. “Along with the pool around the victim, there was a trail of blood on the walls of the terrace. The rods were multiple in number and resembled table supports, and the body of the victim had multiple punctures on it, along with other fatal injuries, probably made using these rods”, Mr. Desai said. The institute veterinarian was called to the spot by AWC members for an initial examination of the body. Allegedly, injury marks and bleeding was found around the vagina of the victim, pointing towards a possible case of Animal Sexual Assault (ASA). The meeting eventually decided on conducting an internal investigation first, before handing it over to the police, and a Fact Finding Committee (FFC) was formed, headed by Prof. Ark Verma. Prof Verma, who is also the Warden of Hall 12, abstained himself from commenting on the situation until the investigation was over.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960), being an old and obsolete law, sentences the accused with 2-3 years of prison, if found guilty. Mostly, the accused confesses and gets away with a fine, so a disciplinary action by the FFC is definitely a better shot at justice in this case. Given the brutality of the act, sources in the FFC suggest that in case one or more students are involved, they can face a serious disciplinary action, if proven guilty. Also, as several people involved in the case have pointed out, the accused person is a potential threat to overall safety of not just animals, but the human residents as well, irrespective of the fact whether the act was done under some influence (alcohol or drug) or not.

The blood trails also suggest that the victim was probably cornered, and controlling a stray animal in this manner, strongly points towards this being a group act. Another possibility, that cannot be ignored, is the alleged sexual assault, which is also a punishable offence in section 377 under the IPC. This charge, which can result in sentences upto 10 years of prison, if proven, would be one of the rare barbaric cases of reported sexual offence against animals in India.

With ineffective judiciary laws against animal cruelty, that are unlikely to change given the votebank-driven politics of the country, one can only hope that the FFC finds the offender and serves justice to the voiceless victim. Animal cruelty and criminal offence are strongly correlated, and the former strongly indicates psychopathic behavior, posing a grave danger to the campus. Also it is highly probable, that the act was accompanied by noises from the suffering victim. Hence Vox urges the occupants of F-Block, Hall 12 and the entire campus junta for that matter, to contact Prof. Ark Verma and share anything that they know about the incident. Incidences like these not only make us question the state of mind of people around us, but also create a need for the campus community to be sensitized towards the treatment of animals.

Credits: Kartikey Sanwal

Edited by: Pulkit Deshmukh