Ghaziabad: Woman slapped for feeding street dogs; one arrested

Police said that they are investigating allegations by local residents that it was the woman who started the physical altercation by slapping the man

A 35-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly assaulting a 22-year-old woman who was feeding street dogs at a high-rise in Siddharth Vihar, Ghaziabad on Friday night, officials said. Police said that they also have a video of the incident. Police said that they are investigating allegations by local residents that it was the woman who started the physical altercation by slapping the man.

A screengrab from the video of the assault on Friday night. (HT Photo)

Based on a complaint by the woman, the police registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) at Vijay Nagar police station on Saturday.

The police said that the accused, KK Khanna, a resident of the same high-rise as the woman, allegedly objected to her feeding stray dogs.

“I was feeding the dogs along with one of my friends when the accused arrived and started to hurl abuses, saying ‘you people have made our stay difficult in the society’. When we objected, he got angry and slapped me several times. I asked him not to hit me but he kept hitting me. He also warned me not to approach the police,” the woman said in the FIR.

Police said that the incident was recorded by a friend of the woman which was then widely shared online. The video shows the man slapping the woman several times while the woman kept objecting. The video shows the woman telling the accused that she would call the police, to which the accused replied, “Who hit first?”, and adding that he would go to police first.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Police said that the incident happened over the issue of feeding street dogs.

“The video of the incident went viral on social media. The man slapped the woman several times when she continued to feed the dogs despite his objections. Upon initial inquiry, local residents told us that it was the woman who first slapped the man. This is being investigated. The man was arrested under Section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of a cognizable offense) of Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita,” said Shashi Chaudhary, SHO of Vijay Nagar police station.