India Sees A Rise In The Sexual Assault Of Dogs

[Sugar Cookie]

In the shadowy corners of Mumbai’s urban sprawl, a disturbing trend is emerging that has left animal welfare advocates sounding a frantic alarm. Reports of sexual assault against stray dogs have seen a marked increase over the past month.

While the accused in two of these cases were booked by police under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), animal welfare activists have raised concerns over the “legal black hole” created by the removal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

On January 18, Vikas Paswan (20) was nabbed red-handed by a local animal feeder and other residents while allegedly sexually abusing a two-month-old puppy inside a public toilet of Narayan Shukla Chawl in Malad’s Kurar village.

In another instance, Sanjay Gaud (40) was nabbed while allegedly sexually abusing a female dog inside a drain in Kandivali (E)’s Lokhandwala Township on February 1.

In both cases, police booked the accused under Section 325 of the BNS and Section 11(1)(a) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act. Notably, the BNS section deals only with “mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless any animal” and carries a punishment of up to five years. The PCA section, on the other hand, carries a penalty as low as Rs 50 for first-time offenders, a figure often mocked by activists as a “licence to kill”.

Local shelters and veterinary clinics have reported a harrowing uptick in cases involving stray dogs brought in with severe internal injuries consistent with sexual trauma.

Yet, as rescuers approach the police, they are increasingly confronted with the reality that the primary legal provision earlier used to penalise such acts is no longer available.

For decades, Section 377 was the primary statute used to prosecute “unnatural offences”, which included both homosexual acts between consenting adults and the sexual exploitation of animals.

When the Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgment, decriminalised consensual same-sex relations, the legislative transition to the new BNS effectively saw the old section scrapped.

However, activists argue that in the process of modernising the code and removing colonial-era stigmas surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, the government inadvertently removed the only robust legal protection against bestiality.

“The victims include cows, dogs, goats and horses who were sexually assaulted. This marks a rise compared to the cases received when the IPC was in effect, highlighting an alarming trend requiring immediate intervention. The current provisions are not fully sufficient, and we urge the Centre to amend the BNS to include a specific provision to criminalise sexual abuse of animals, as existed under the IPC since 1860,” said PETA India director of cruelty response Meet Ashar.

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Legal Void: Activists Push For Restoration Of Section 377 Amid Surge In Animal Abuse Cases

Animal welfare activists in Mumbai have raised alarm over a surge in sexual assault cases against stray dogs, warning that the omission of specific bestiality offences under the new criminal code has weakened legal action, with groups like PETA India urging urgent law reforms.

www.freepressjournal.in

 

[thuumpr]

Do the puppies stay for breakfast or stay and become breakfast?

 

[Symmachus]

The removal of Section 377 from India's legal code is a great victory for the LGBTZOO+ crowd!

 

[Metalfan]

How fucking hard up does ANYONE have to be to screw any animal? Also wouldn't cows be sacred poon?

 

[elmgems]

I'm a terrible person, but... better the animals than the women