75-year-old man jailed for keeping his cattle out in the rain

MUMBAI: A 75-year-old Lalbaug resident has been sentenced to 10 days’ imprisonment for keeping his cattle out in the rain for five days during the 2013 monsoon, instead of keeping them dry in a covered shed.

He has also been ordered to pay a fine of ₹3,000.

Last week, on May 28, close to five years after the incident, a Mumbai metropolitan court ruled that the animals were exposed to weather that could have been detrimental to their health.

Gopal Phulsunge, who was then the owner of 17 cows, eight calves and bulls, was found guilty of confining them in a small space near a road and not giving them any space to move for five days.

The police had registered the case against the senior citizen in 2013 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, after animal activist and social worker Chetan Sharma filed a complaint.

Testifying against the accused, Sharma told the court that on June 28, 2013, Phulsunge had tied up his cattle near a Metro bridge for five days in the rain.

The prosecution brought in a local resident, who confirmed that he had seen the cattle tied by the footpath.

However, the resident added that he had seen Phulsunge take proper care of the animals.

Phulsunge had also been accused of not providing sufficient food and water to the animals, but the charge was not proved.

The court noted that no medical reports had been produced on record to establish that the animals were starved whereas there is sufficient evidence that the animals were kept in an open space without a shed, which is a type of cruelty.

“The accused ought to have made necessary arrangements for the proper shelter of the animals, who provide him his daily bread and butter,” metropolitan magistrate AH Kashikar said in his judgment.