‘The senior man had cages of kittens to rape’

Four days ago a 65yearold man in Malad was found to have raped a kitten Disturbingly he had more of them in cages in his homeRange forest officers found a uniquely injured ghorpad monitor lizard while on their rounds in Ichalkaranji Investigation revealed that it has been raped by three menA woman caught on video her fatherinlaw raping a dog through penetration on the landing of their apartment buildingA young man for a lark videoed his friend pleasuring himself while fondling a dogrsquos testicles Another dogrsquos testicles were found chopped off The neighbourhood CCTV revealed that it was done for sexual gratificationSushank Tomar with Rani ParildquoGoat rape is routinerdquo says animal rights activist and politician Maneka Gandhi ldquoas is the rape of cows and calves in dairies and gaushalasrdquo Her organisation People for Animals prosecuted 35 cases of animal sexual assault in India last year As we speak Sushank Tomar founder of Citizens for Animal Protection is trying to get a dog named Rani Pari justice It takes repeated appeals to the Police Commissioner and other posts of power to get an FIR filed The case is currently with Vartak Nagar police station in Thane and Rani Pari is being treated for maggots that have infested a hole in her vagina Her uterus is also rupturedldquoA feeder near Cadbury junction in Thane who works as domestic help could not find her regular dog on the night of June 28rdquo Tomar tells us between court sessions ldquoThe dog had given birth two weeks ago and they wanted to ensure she had nutrition She enlisted two watchmen to help her they found the society bathroom door locked from inside They could hear a dog yelping A drunk man finally stumbled out and Rani Pari was insidemdashthere was blood on the floor and around her vaginardquoVijay Rangare with LailaThe man ran away and Tomar an animal welfare officer had Rani Pari checked by a governmentappointed vet to attest to rape and compel the police to file an FIR and trace the culprit with the help of CCTV footageIn the absence of a law that protects animals from sexual assault the culprits were charged under Section 325 of the BNS Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita the new criminal code that replaced IPC which makes it a punishable offence to mischievously kill or maim ANY animal The punishment is jail term of up to five years or fine or both It covers all animalsmdashwild companion and farm animalsmdashand can be applied in all cases irrespective of species of animal of killing or maiming done with either knowledge or intention of causing such harmHowever it doesnrsquot cover rape by penetration any kind of sexual assault especially the indiscernible subtle act such as performing or receiving oral sex on an animal or fondling for sexual gratification or even overtly cruel such as tortureManeka GandhiIt combines the earlier Indian Penal Code Sections 428 and 429 that provided for punishment of all acts of cruelty such as killing poisoning maiming or rendering useless of animals but as per the value of the animal Along it was Section 377 which made unnatural sex and sodomy a nonbailable offence Unfortunately when it was decriminalised to legalise queer rights it left animals vulnerableldquoI donrsquot know why the government hasnrsquot reinstated it separatelyrdquo says Gandhi who belongs to the ruling party at the centre ldquoMany of usmdashincluding Poonam Mahajan and Hema Malinimdashraised the matter in ParliamentrdquoBestiality is considered a crime in almost every civilised society Earlier this month British zoologist Adam Britton was sentenced to 249 years imprisonment by an Australia court for having raped tortured and killed dogs Britton recorded himself torturing sexually abusing and killing dogs often left with him by pet parents who couldnrsquot afford to nurture them This is often the dark side overlooked in the enthusiasm to have stray animals adoptedNitesh Khare former animal officer sees three to four cases of ASA Animal Sexual Assault every month He is Founder and National President of animal welfare litigation body Society for Animal Safety SAS It has a presence in Maharashtra Gujarat Chhattisgarh Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand DelhiNCR Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra and Jharkhand top the list for density of ASA They are the ones who found out about the assault on the ghorpad ldquoThe police are also struggling and helplessrdquo he tells us ldquoThey donrsquot know what to charge the culprit with We recently had a case of a man in Taloja who chopped off a dogrsquos privates A 65yearold man found guilty of ASA was released on bail of R15000 on grounds of having medical conditions and age that would make imprisonment hard on himrdquoVijay Rangare now president of the Maharashtra chapter of PFA and an animal welfare officer was sacked in 2019 after he took too many days off to pursue justice for Laila a dog who was sexually assaulted by restaurant workers in Kharghar With the support of Section 377 Rangare pushed for a swab of Lailarsquos genital and DNA testing by the Bombay Veterinary College and it matched with the DNA samples taken from the culpritrsquos clothes by the police A rare piece of evidenceIn usual course evidence of ASA only emerges through eyewitnesses or if it is caught on camera or CCTVs Otherwise a dog or cat with prolapsed anus or vagina a telltale sign of vigorous penetrationmdashwill merely receive medical care if she is lucky to be found by a sympathetic feeder or activist with meansSince then Rangare has dedicated his time and resources to pursuing litigation for ASA ldquoA video showed a man touching a dogrsquos privates and masturbatingrdquo he says ldquoWe traced it to Dombivli and filed a case Children as young as three and four watched a senior man rape a stray dog in a village His family pleaded with us to take him away because they were worried about the safety of their childrenrdquoThe demographic of the rapists is disturbingly clear says Gandhimdashsenior men over 65 years of age and very young menWhat animal lovers want is legal provision to protect against rape ldquoSexual assault on animals is no different from sexual assault on humansrdquo says Khare ldquoIn fact itrsquos worse they canrsquot fight back or advocate for themselves Punishment should include imprisonment for 10 to 15 years If we are correcting everything that is not our culture bestiality isnrsquot eitherrdquoGandhi feels that the same laws that apply to rape of humans should apply to animals ldquoBNS has tampered with 377 for no reasonrdquo she tells us over the phone ldquoSexual assault of animals is no less heinous than that of humans It should have the same law as humans as the crime is the same Itrsquos more like rape of children because they cannot cry out or speak It should be a nonbailable crime as it was under Section 377 because it puts others at riskrdquo She advocates for imprisonment starting at seven years with provision for collecting evidence in the same manner as rape of humansmdashswab testsIt could also call for protection of witnessmdasha young woman who reported a man for raping a dog in Malad was reportedly harassed and threatened by antisocial elements connected to the rapistWhich is why Rangare would like the FIR to be noncompoundablemdashit cannot be withdrawn ldquoThe punishment should be lifetime imprisonmentrdquo he says ldquoBecause after animals the rapist then progresses to childrenmdashitrsquos the same profile of victim someone defenceless who cannot verbalise what has happenedrdquo There is some truth in the mattermdashinternationally most paraphilics are found to have molested children tooPolice found child porn on zoologist Brittonrsquos personal computer He was found guilty of possessing and transmitting child abuse materialRangare would also like the law to define ASA as penetration by human or inanimate object any act such as strangulation or licking that gives a human sexual pleasure oral sex and fondling It should apply to all sexes and all animals ldquoincluding hensrdquo He tells us that a protest is being planned during the monsoon session of Parliament to demand theseThe question arises Why donrsquot the animals fight back or bite A team of students from Mumbairsquos Jai Hind College may have the answer While researching for their short film on ASA Two Biscuits they spoke to behaviourists who told them about freeze or shut downmdashitrsquos the state the nervous system goes into in time of shock And a raped animal is never again 100 per cent okayAnd neither should India be35No of animal sexual assault cases her organisation People for Animals prosecuted in India last year

‘The senior man had cages of kittens to rape’

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Bollywood News

India News

Web Series

Latest Headlines

Have you heard? Parvathy Thiruvothu recalls her bond with Irrfan Khan

Bihar elections 2025: Polling underway for 2nd and final phase of assembly polls

Vipin Sharma plays antagonist PM Sudhakar Joshi in Maharani 4

Namit Das on his character Ganesha in Hamara Vinayak: 'Connects with all ages'

Home / Sunday-mid-day / / Article / ‘The senior man had cages of kittens to rape’

‘The senior man had cages of kittens to rape’

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Bollywood News

India News

Web Series

Latest Headlines

Have you heard? Parvathy Thiruvothu recalls her bond with Irrfan Khan

Bihar elections 2025: Polling underway for 2nd and final phase of assembly polls

Vipin Sharma plays antagonist PM Sudhakar Joshi in Maharani 4

Namit Das on his character Ganesha in Hamara Vinayak: 'Connects with all ages'