Delhi: Man mercilessly tortures street dog, posts video online

A Delhi-based activist has written to police commissioner BS Bassi demanding action against a man who uploaded a video of himself mercilessly whirling a street dog around before flinging the animal against a car.

A Delhi-based activist has written to police commissioner BS Bassi demanding action against a man who uploaded a video of himself mercilessly whirling a street dog around before flinging the animal against a car.

After coming across the video on Facebook, lawyer and columnist Shehzad Poonawalla wrote to the police chief and began an online campaign to name and shame the man seen abusing the dog. The campaign is aided by the NGO Policy Samvad, co-founded by Poonawalla.



In his letter to commissioner Bassi, Poonawalla highlighted how the act captured in the video constitutes an offence under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960.



The brief video shows the man grabbing the hind legs of the dog and whirling the animal round several times before flinging it against a parked vehicle nearby. The dog can be heard whimpering.

“We demand immediate police action including registration of an FIR against this criminal for torturing the animal. We also request the central and state governments to legislate and create stronger laws and more stringent punishments, backed up by proper implementation, against animal cruelty,” Poonawalla wrote.

The Facebook profile of the accused, who identifies himself as Dar ji (DJ) alias Vatssam Kumar from Delhi, has been deleted.

(The screenshot of the deleted Facebook profile from Policy Samvad)



However, a retrieved version of the video was re-uploaded on YouTube by .



Poonawalla informed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung about the video. He also spoke to Facebook’s management and Union minister Maneka Gandhi, a leading animal rights activist, about the issue.