Man held for repeatedly kicking a puppy until its intestines spilled out

Police in the Indian city of Nagpur arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly kicking a two-month-old stray puppy to death.

The incident happened on Friday (6 October) night when the man, Abhishek Ingle, repeatedly kicked the animal until its intestines popped out. Ingle reportedly had objections over the puppy's presence in the society since it had come into the complex with a leg injury on 30 September.

A 25-year-old woman lawyer named Karnika Pandey, who lives in the same society where Ingle stays, was taking care of the pup, The Times of India reported.

On 6 October, Pandey came to know that the accused had taken away the puppy with him. "Abhishek took away the pup in his car and despite my repeated attempts, his mother did not give me his telephone number," said Pandey. She then called animal activist Aparna Modak for help.

Modak contacted another activist Dinesh Zile to help locate the animal. Zile, who is an eyewitness to the crime, said that he saw a man repeatedly kicking "something" when he was enroute to Pandey's house at 11pm (6.30pm BST) the same night.

"On seeing that the person was repeatedly following the action, I stopped the car and turned back. But the person, who I later identified as Ingle, fled. The object he was kicking was a pup which was dead and lying dismembered," Zile added.

Meanwhile, when Ingle returned to the society Pandey confronted him that led to a heated argument between the duo. "We had an argument during which he physically abused me," the woman alleged.

An investigation has been launched after Pandey identified the dead pup. Police officials said that they were taking eyewitnesses' statements to further investigate the case.

Ingle was arrested Friday midnight and was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354, 429, 509, 504, 506 and relevant sections of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. He was, however, later released on bail of Rs15, 000 (£174).

Speaking to IBTimes UK, Modak said, "IPC Sec 429 is a cognizable yet bailable offence that he has been charged with. This outdated, inadequate act is responsible for people not taking the offence seriously.

"Unless stringent laws are passed as have been incorporated in the animal Welfare Bill pending approval by the Supreme Court, such people would continue to get away unpunished." She added that there is an urgent need to replace these outdated and ineffective laws.