In a brutal case of animal abuse, a monkey was tortured and hanged to death from a tree in Khammam district, Telangana. Three men were booked by Forest Department officials for animal cruelty.
The incident reportedly took place in Ammapalem village of Vemsur mandal in Khammam district. The abuse of the animal came to light after a video of it went viral on social media, creating uproar over the assault of the monkey.
The horrific visuals showed two dogs attacking the monkey while three men holding sticks were overseeing the entire episode.
According to Forest Department officials, three locals — Sadhu Venkateshwar Rao, Goudelli Ganapathi and Gaddam Rajashekar — killed the monkey after torturing it.
According to Sattupalli Division Forest Officer (DFO) Sathish Vemuri, prime accused Venkateshwar Rao hit the monkey with a stick after it came near his residence in an agricultural field.
The DFO said, "The main accused caught it and hanged it to a tree by hitting it with sticks. One of them has recorded the acts on phone and shared it on social media, this amounts to animal cruelty."
The DFO added, "When we questioned the accused, they said that they wanted to scare off the other monkeys from venturing into their field."
The corpse of the monkey was recovered from the vicinity.
According to the DFO, the area has several monkeys. Monkeys are categorised as Schedule II animals under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
A case has been registered under Section 51 of the Act. The main accused has been arrested while the other two men are yet to be arrested.
Speaking to TNM, animal rights activist and founder of the Compassionate Society for Anims NGO, Pravallika N, said, "Cruelty against animals is increasing in a huge way, humans are not being taught to be sensitive with animals. The concerned agencies were also not really paying attention when it comes to animal abuse."
She added that there is a serious need for altering the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
In 2016, as many as four MBBS students of the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore faced action after they tortured and killed a monkey.