In a shocker, boys burn 3 pups alive

HYDERABAD: In a gruesome incident, a few boys from Hyderabad roasted alive three puppies, filmed the entire scene on their mobile cameras, and posted the video on social networking sites.

The incident, which happened at Vazir graveyard near Ek Minar mosque in Musheerabad area on the evening of July 16, came to light on Wednesday when the video was posted on Facebook. Within hours, it went viral on social media. Based on a complaint from some animal rights activists, the Musheerabad police registered a case.

The incident comes close on the heels of two medicos who flung a stray dog from the rooftop of a three-storey building at Kundrathur in Chennai last month.

There were at least five boys in the three-minute video, which was filmed by another person. It shows the boys bringing the puppies from somewhere and throwing them in the fire made of burning wood and garbage. When the puppies start yelping and try to escape, two of the boys are seen pushing them back using sticks. They wait until the puppies are burnt completely.

“We have not arrested anybody so far. We are still trying to identify the persons in the video. Prima facie, they all appear to be minors. The case is under investigation,” Musheerabad sub-inspector, B Ravi Kumar Reddy, told HT.

Inquiries, however, said the police had taken five suspects into custody and are interrogating them.

Animal rights activist Shreya said it was evident from the video clips that the boys were drawing vicarious pleasure from roasting the puppies alive. “Unfortunately, there is no harsh punishment for such gruesome killings of animals. They would get away with some fine,” she said.