A cow was allegedly found "brutally assaulted" in this district of Andhra Pradesh, according to a complaint lodged by the owner which has prompted a police investigation to ascertain whether it was a sexual assault.

The police received a complaint from one N Lakshminarayana who said that he found his cow to be missing on the morning of December 23, Sub Inspector of Pithapuram (Rural) P V R Murthy told ANI.

He searched for his cow and found it at the farm of one K Suryaprakasa Rao in the outskirts of the Gokivada village, Murthy said.

Lakshmiarayana then lodged a complained with the police that his cow was "brutally assaulted", the police officer said.

The Pithapuram rural PS police registered a case under crime number 192/2018, sec 2(1) (a) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and a probe has been initiated to ascertain more details.

The police did not confirm whether the cow was sexually assaulted, saying it was awaiting a report from the veterinary doctor.

On being asked whether there were any blood stains on the cow, Murthy replied in the negative.

The police added that there was swelling on the back of the cow.

The police are trying to identify and catch the culprits.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)