Dog beaten to death in Kerala: Police record arrest of two youths

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vizhinjam police probing into the murder of a pet dog at Adimalathura near here have arrested two youths in connection with the case. The arrested are Sunil, 22, and Siluvayyan, 20, both residents of Adimalathura. They were charged under Section 429 of the IPC that pertains to intentional killing of any animal of the value of Rs 50 or more. The owner of the dog, Sony P, had mentioned in her complaint that the dog was bought for a price of Rs 7,000 eight years ago. If proven guilty under this section, the accused would get a maximum punishment of up to five years of imprisonment. Police said that the accused were arrested on Wednesday night, several hours after they registered the case. Since the charge invoked was bailable, they were granted bail by 11pm. Police have also booked a 17-year-old youth in connection with the case. Since he was a minor, they did not arrest him. However, a report will be soon filed before the district juvenile justice board apprising them about his involvement in the crime.
The alleged crime took place on Monday morning. The dog, Bruno, owned by Sony and her family that resided near Adimalathura beach, was thrashed to death by the group for resting under one of their boats. The accused hanged the dog using a fishing hook and thrashed it with rods while their friends recorded a video. The incident generated wide public outrage after the video, which Sony’s brother Christuraj posted on FB, went viral. Meanwhile, Christuraj and Sony received death threats from the accused soon after the video went viral.
On Thursday, the district chapter of People for Animals (PFA) came forward offering support to the family. Sreedevi S Kartha of PFA said that they intervened in the case to ensure that the family did not withdraw their complaint owing to pressure.
“There are two kinds of punishments for killing animals. If it’s a stray and of no value, the punishment is a penalty that doesn’t exceed Rs100. If it’s a domesticated animal worth Rs 50 or more, then the quantum of punishment will be larger. PFA has taken efforts to provide legal awareness to the family and see to it that the accused persons are given appropriate punishment,” she said.