Guwahati Police registered an FIR after PETA India filed a complaint over a viral video showing a man kicking chicks onto railway tracks. The FIR has been filed under the BNS 2023, and several sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Guwahati Police have registered an FIR following a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India over a viral video allegedly showing a man kicking chicks (offspring of chickens) onto railway tracks, leaving them to die.
According to a PETA India press release, the FIR was registered under Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Sections 11(1)(a), 11(1)(d), 11(1)(e), 11(1)(k) and 38(3) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
Details of the Cruel Act
PETA India said it worked with local animal activist Aditi Bakshi to pursue police action after receiving the video, which allegedly showed several chicks on the floor of a train before a man kicked them onto the railway tracks. The organisation said the footage showed some chicks alive, others barely responsive, and several apparently suffering from serious injuries or broken bones. It also alleged that the birds had been transported without proper enclosures to ensure their safety.
"The disturbing video shows numerous chicks scattered across the train floor, some alive, others barely responsive, and several apparently suffering from serious injuries or broken bones. The chicks appear to have endured a rough and stressful journey, apparently without proper enclosures to ensure their safe transport. The footage further shows the man using his feet to kick the chicks onto the railway tracks to be left for dead, subjecting these animals to severe and unnecessary torture, pain and suffering," said in the press statement.
“Chicks feel pain, stress and fear, and kicking, injuring, and throwing these fragile birds onto railway tracks is outrageous cruelty,” PETA India Senior Cruelty Response Officer Sinchana Subramanyan said.
Police Action Commended
PETA India commended Pranjit Borah, Senior Superintendent of Railway Police (SRP), Pandu, Guwahati, for directing the immediate registration of the FIR. "PETA India commends the Senior Superintendent of Railway Police (SRP), Pandu, Guwahati, Pranjit Borah, for directing the immediate registration of an FIR and sending a clear message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated," PETA India said in the press statement.
Broader Industry Concerns Raised
The organisation said the incident also highlighted concerns over the treatment of chicks in the egg and meat industries. It alleged that unwanted newborn birds, including male chicks in the egg industry, are often killed or discarded shortly after hatching.
According to PETA India, such chicks may be crushed, suffocated, drowned or sent through grinders along with dead birds and eggshells. The organisation also claimed that some are sold as feed for fish farms, while others are coloured and sold as toys to children, only to often die from toxins or mishandling shortly after.
PETA India’s motto reads in part that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”, opposing speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. (ANI)
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