Noida couple assaulted after asking for dog to be put on a leash

Police said when the victim and his wife protested, the issue escalated, and the dog owner called three of his friends

NoidaFour men allegedly assaulted a 30-year-old man and sexually harassed his wife after the couple requested one of them to leash his German Shepherd pet dog while walking in a park in a Sector 134 high-rise on Monday.

Police said a case was registered and two of the accused have been arrested. (HT Archive)

Police said a case was registered and two of the accused have been arrested.

The victim, in his complaint, said the incident took place around 8pm on Monday. “I was sitting on a bench along with my wife in the society’s park when a man was walking with his dog, who was unleashed. The pet dog started approaching us, so I requested the man to leash the dog. He denied and started misbehaving with us,” he said in the complaint to police.

Police said when the victim and his wife protested, the issue escalated, and the dog owner called three of his friends. “The victim alleged that the men assaulted him and when his wife intervened, they sexually harassed and pushed her,” a police officer said.

The men then allegedly dragged the victim to another place in the society campus, where they kicked and punched him, police said.

On the basis of the complaint, an FIR under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (criminal intimidation) and 74 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage modesty) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at Expressway police station. “Two of the accused –- sharing a flat in the same society –- were arrested from their residence. They told us the dog is three to four months old,” Amit Khari, station house officer, Expressway police station, said. Efforts are underway to arrest the others, the SHO said.

Names of the accused are withheld as the investigation is currently underway, an officer said.