Case filed after a mob of students, staff beat pregnant dog to death in Delhi; video goes viral online

NEW DELHI: Around 25 students and staff members suspected to be of Don Bosco Technical Institute in South East Delhi allegedly ganged up against a pregnant street dog and bludgeoned her to death after torturing her, officials said Saturday.

After the video of the gruesome killing which happened in a park surfaced on social media, New Friends Colony Police registered an FIR in the matter. According to the complaint, two brothers of the institute were also allegedly present under instructions from the senior staff.

The disturbing video shows an all male gang of students cornering the scared dog inside a tin shed on the institute's campus which is entered by a student with a rod in his hand, and the remaining students egging him on from outside, they said. The 15-minute-long video carrying horrid visual of the torture and killing of the animal went viral on Saturday with activists and dog lovers seeking strict actions against the accused, suspected to be students of the institute located in Okhla.

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Later, one of the crowd members could be seen dragging the dog through what has reported to be the college compound. The ghastly act surfaced within days of another such video from Ghaziabad which showed three people killing a dog by hanging him in a grotesque manner. The accused in this incident were booked in a case by police after a complaint.

"It is horrific to see such brutality by young students who can be seen laughing as they beat an expectant mother to death," said Ambika Shukla, Trustee, PFA. Scientific studies have shown that cruelty against animals is dangerous because it escalates to violence against women and children, she said.

"With time, the high of abusing a defenceless animal dissipates and to impose their power, such abusers, then prey on women and children," she said. Shukla said there are ample studies which show an overlap between animal abuse and domestic violence and child abuse. "Animal abusers of today are the serial killers of tomorrow. That's why it is so important for society to take serious note of every instance of animal abuse.

"These boys must be rusticated from college and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Institution must be severely penalised as not only its students but also its staff are involved," she said.