Chennai (The Hawk): The panchayat president of Sankaralingapuram in Tamil Nadu and her husband have been detained by police in Virudhunagar for allegedly killing stray dogs.
An animal activist complained to the Amatur police that over 50 stray dogs in the region had been slaughtered and buried, and the police then opened an investigation.
People For Animals (PFA), an animal rights group started by Maneka Gandhi, member Sunitha reported to the police that 50 dogs had been slain and buried. Speaking to the media, she stated, "I called the panchayat president Nagalakshmi and her husband Meenachi Sundaram as soon as I received information that the dogs had been slain by them. Sundaram acknowledged that the dogs were slain.
The Panchayat President and her husband were the targets of a FIR filed by the Amatur police after 30 dog carcasses were discovered in a severely decomposed state. IANS was informed by animal rights advocates that the dogs were killed by beating after being caught with iron hooks.
According to police, the couple was arrested for violating the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. According to representatives of the Amatur police station, most of the carcasses could not have undergone necropsies due to their extremely decomposed state, but on a few, it was done and revealed that the dogs had been beaten to death.
According to a preliminary inquiry, the couple chose to murder the dogs in response to complaints made by the townspeople.
(Inputs from Agencies)