Gautham Sudarshan and Ashish Pal, the two MBBS students who threw a puppy from the roof of a five- storeyed building, videographed the sadistic act and posted the same on the social media, were arrested by police on Wednesday. The two, who had been absconding for sometime were held from Tirunelveli and Nagercoil in southern Tamil Nadu early Wednesday.
“Gautham and Ashish were arrested today. They were produced at the Sriperumbudur Judicial Magistrate’s court and were granted bail by the court,” Inspector Ruban of Kundrathur Police Station told reporters.
Shravan Krishnan, the animal rights activist who along with his friends located the puppy that miraculously survived the terrifying fall, said it is unable to walk and has suffered a broken leg. “The dog is being treated at Madras Veterinary College at Vepery, a Chennai suburb. What breaks my heart is that she is still wagging her tail,” said Kumar. Kumar has named the dog Bhadra.
“We will ensure Bhadra gets the best treatment,” said one of the animal rights activists accompanying Shravan Kumar.
According to Chennai Police, Gautham and Ashish have been booked under Sections 428 and 429 (mischief by maiming or killing an animal) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. The duo, students of Madha Medical College, Chennai, reportedly told the police that they committed the bestial act for “fun.”
The two students were forced to surrender before the police after the Chairman of Madha Medical College gave an ultimatum to the parents of the sadistic duo that if they failed to surrender, they would not be allowed to appear for the exams.
This is the second instance of cruelty perpetrated on dogs coming to light in Tamil Nadu in the last 30 days. On June 5, a gory incident of 50 dogs being burnt alive had come to light in Melmaruvathur, 50 km south of Chennai. Agitated over the alleged killing of their sheep and goats by stray dogs, villagers caught them, sedated them with food laced with pesticides and burnt them alive.
The police had arrested four villagers following a complaint filed by animal rights activists in Chennai.