Hyderabad, June 17 (IANS) A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered at a police station in Siddipet district of Telangana against the barbaric killing of a goat.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India said on Wednesday that after receiving a video showing the unlawful and barbaric killing of a goat during Peddamma Bonalu celebrations in Khazipur village, Siddipet district, it worked with Adulapuram Goutham of Stray Animal Foundation India (SAFI), the Commissioner of Police, Siddipet, and the Bhoompally police station to get an FIR registered.

A video showing the sacrifice carried out in full public view was posted on an Instagram account. The footage shows men holding the legs of a goat while another man repeatedly bites the animal’s neck to kill it.

Acting on the complaint by SAFI, the Bhoompally police station registered an FIR under section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.

PETA India has urged the police to also include sections of the Telangana Animals and Birds Sacrifices Prohibition Act, 1950, in the FIR.

“PETA India commends Siddipet police, especially the Commissioner of Police, Rashmi Perumal, IPS, for her intervention in directing the registration of an FIR and sending the message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated,” says PETA India Lead Cruelty Response Coordinator, Sreekutty Raje.

“Animal sacrifice is both cruelty to animals and a danger to society. It desensitises the public to violence and reinforces obsolete beliefs that hinder progress. Just as human sacrifice is now treated as murder, at a time when India is embarking on space missions and hosting AI summits, the archaic practice of animal sacrifice must end. It is a necessity for our societal evolution.”

In the complaint, it was pointed out that Section 3 of the Telangana Animals and Birds Sacrifices Prohibition Act, 1950, strictly prohibits sacrificing any animal in any place of public religious worship or adoration, or in its precincts, or in any congregation or procession connected with any religious worship in a public street. Section 4 prohibits any person from officiating or offering to officiate at – or perform or offer to perform; or serve, assist or participate in or offer to serve, assist or participate in – sacrificing any animal in any place of public religious worship or adoration or its precincts or in any congregation or procession connected with any religious worship in a public street. Section 5 prohibits the use of a place of public religious worship or adoration or its precincts for sacrificing animals by any person in possession of such temple.

–IANS

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