What an unlikely plight for an animal lover mother-daughter duo that was not only met with resistance but also beaten up for a kind act of caring for stray puppies in their suburban neighborhood in Kothrud, Pune. A 45 year old neighbour named Milind Kale residing in the same housing society however considered the cute two month old puppies a nuisance. The only option that popped in his undiscriminating mind was to get the innocent pups picked up by the municipality and thrash anyone who offers resistance.
On Sunday, Twenty year old Sejal Saraf, an animal care volunteer and her only supporter her mother Sonali tried to reason with the PMC pick-up van representatives. Clarifying to them that sterilization of animals below the age of six months is illegal as per law and therefore cannot be taken away to pounds by municipal corporations. Sejal and Sonali’s intervention did not go down well with Milind. Milind Kale not only abused the mother daughter duo for their rationale but also beat them up mercilessly.
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Milind Kale who is now being shamed across the country, punched Sejal in her face and tried to bang her mother’s head on a wall. He then went ahead to hit both the women with his shoe. A video recording of the gory incident was the only hope to get the shameless man to suffer the consequences of his unforgiving act. The video footage went viral. Consequently, Kale was seized & taken under police custody under sections 325(causing grievous hurt), 354(outraging the modesty of woman) and 506(criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Shockingly, the offender’s wife Ann opined that Sejal and Sonal deserved the beating meted out by her husband.
City’s animal activists link the Sunday’s event to a lack of awareness about illegal animal sterilizations.
Activist Anson Joseph, who is also helping in the case, has made clear that an animal volunteer’s job involves coordinating with dog catchers, maintaining records and being present at the time of pick-ups and that Sejal was only observing her duty.
Is it the mute defenseless animals or are we humans encroaching upon nature’s unclaimed land? Have human beings become too selfish that they aren’t ready to share what solely doesn’t belong to them? Why is there hullaballoo over animal sterilization? Rather humans ought to talk about controlling their exploding numbers and make space for nature and life. Clearly a balanced world will not be achieved unless people are willing to show respect and tolerance towards the existence of animals. The word world means humanity per se and that can be rightly interpreted as compassion and we sincerely hope that it evolves for the better.
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