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India: Man booked for killing rat by drowning in drain

30-page chargesheet filed against the man after police probe

The Uttar Pradesh Police have filed a 30-page chargesheet in a Budaun court against a man who allegedly tied a stone to a rat’s tail and drowned it in a drain in November last year, an official said on Tuesday.

The police investigation joined “each and every sequence” and prepared the chargesheet based on the forensic report, videos in the media, and information collected from different departments, Circle Officer (City) Alok Mishra said.

Police sources said to make the chargesheet strong, the post-mortem examination report has been used as a base. The report indicated the rodent had lung and liver infection and died due to asphyxiation caused by lung infection.

On November 25, police received a complaint against Manoj Kumar for cruelty against an animal. Police said animal activist Vikendra Sharma reported them that Kumar threw a rat into a drain after tying a stone to its tail. Vikendra Sharma said he entered the drain to save the rat but it died later.

On Tuesday, senior advocate Rajiv Kumar Sharma said: “Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, there is a provision of fine from Rs10 to Rs2,000 and three years of imprisonment. And under Section 429 of IPC, there is a provision for five years of imprisonment or fine or both.”

Kumar’s father Mathura Prasad, however, said: “Killing of rats and crows is not wrong. These are harmful creatures.”

“Rats had damaged the utensils made using soil, and had turned them into mounds of soil. This caused mental and financial problems to him. If action is taken against my son, then action should also be taken against those who butcher goats, hens and fishes. Action should also be taken against those who sell the rat killing chemical,” Prasad added.

After the incident in November, the rat’s carcass was sent to a veterinary hospital in Budaun for autopsy but the staff refused to examine it. The carcass was then sent to Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly.

Kumar was called to the police station for questioning. He was later booked under IPC Section 429 (slaughtering an animal) and also under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act, police said.

Later, the forensic examination showed the rat’s lungs were swollen and it died due to a lung infection. “Our experts concluded the rat died due to asphyxiation caused by lung infection,” KP Singh, joint director of IVRI, had said then.