Pregnant stray dog beaten to death by college students; police file case
NEW DELHI: A stray dog, reportedly pregnant, was killed allegedly by students of Don Bosco Institute of Technology in New Friends Colony, prompting the police to file a case in the matter.
Videos of the incident did the rounds on social media and purportedly show students of the institute torturing the dog.
“A complaint from Divya Puri, a resident of New Friends Colony (NFC), was received in which she levelled allegations about cruelty regarding a white street dog at Don Bosco Institute of Technology, and also submitted video footage of the incident. A case has been registered based on the video,” said deputy commissioner of police (south east) Esha Pandey, NFC police station. The case has been registered under sections 429 (mischief by killing or maiming any animal) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act.
In a video of the incident, a group of students can be seen surrounding a tin shed in which the dog is hiding, scared. One student can be heard urging another, who is holding a hockey stick, to kill the dog. In another video, the dog can be seen lying unconscious. In another video, a student can be seen dragging the unconscious dog in a field.
Divya Puri, a chartered accountant who runs Karan Puri Foundation, which feeds stray dogs, said she was tagged in posts about these videos on social media websites on Friday. “When I saw these videos, I rushed to the institute, where I learned that the incident had occurred on October 30. Everyone, including the management of the institute, was aware of it,” she said. The field where the dog was dragged is on the institute’s premises, she added.
Puri said the videos were shared on social media by a student of the institute, who was then asked to leave the hostel. HT has heard the voice recording of the phone conversation between Puri and the student. The dog was buried in the open field on the same day, the student said, adding that incidents of violence against dogs have taken place on campus earlier as well. “The student said a notice was read out on campus saying no one will share information about this incident with anyone outside the institute,” Puri said. HT has not seen a copy of the notice.
It was not immediately known if the body of the dog has been recovered and sent for autopsy.
Officials from the institute were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to reach them on their official and personal contact numbers.