Three men tied up a stray dog adopted by a neighbour and thrashed it so badly that its eyeball came out.
The incident, reported from Manjunath Layout in Bhattarahalli, East Bengaluru, on Monday night, has outraged animal activists. A purported video of the vicious attack has been widely shared on social media. The KR Puram police have arrested the suspects.
The dog owner, Gaddigappa, 53, was also attacked. Gaddigappa adopted the street dog three years ago and named it Acchu.
At 10 am on Monday, he let the dog out to play on the street. Acchu got into a fight with a pet dog of Gaddigappa's neighbour, Nagaraj. Before things could get out of hand, Gaddigappa said he brought Acchu home and leashed it in the compound of his house.
In the night, around 10 pm, Nagaraj's three sons Ranjith, Rahul and Rajath barged into the Gaddigappa's compound. Armed with sticks, they tied up Acchu with a rope and beat it until one of its eyeballs came out. When Gaddigappa tried to rescue the dog, the trio allegedly hit him on the head with the stick and hurled insults at him. They also threatened to kill him, Gaddigappa told the police.
Gaddigappa's injuries were serious enough that he had to visit the KR Puram General Hospital for treatment. The dog has been admitted to Cessna Lifeline Veterinary Hospital in Domlur and is critical.
Following a complaint from Gaddigappa, police opened a case under IPC Sections 324, 428, 429, 448, 504, 506, 34 and Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The IPC sections pertain to voluntarily causing hurt, maiming an animal, trespass, intentional insults, and criminal intimidation.