Legal Void: Activists Push For Restoration Of Section 377 Amid Surge In Animal Abuse Cases

Mumbai, Feb 07: In the shadowy corners of Mumbai’s urban sprawl, a disturbing trend is emerging that has left animal welfare advocates sounding a frantic alarm. Reports of sexual assault against stray dogs have seen a marked increase over the past month.

While the accused in two of these cases were booked by police under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), animal welfare activists have raised concerns over the “legal black hole” created by the removal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Two recent cases in Malad and Kandivali

On January 18, Vikas Paswan (20) was nabbed red-handed by a local animal feeder and other residents while allegedly sexually abusing a two-month-old puppy inside a public toilet of Narayan Shukla Chawl in Malad’s Kurar village.

In another instance, Sanjay Gaud (40) was nabbed while allegedly sexually abusing a female dog inside a drain in Kandivali (E)’s Lokhandwala Township on February 1.

Limited legal provisions under BNS and PCA Act

In both cases, police booked the accused under Section 325 of the BNS and Section 11(1)(a) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act. Notably, the BNS section deals only with “mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless any animal” and carries a punishment of up to five years. The PCA section, on the other hand, carries a penalty as low as Rs 50 for first-time offenders, a figure often mocked by activists as a “licence to kill”.

Veterinary clinics report disturbing injuries

Local shelters and veterinary clinics have reported a harrowing uptick in cases involving stray dogs brought in with severe internal injuries consistent with sexual trauma.

Yet, as rescuers approach the police, they are increasingly confronted with the reality that the primary legal provision earlier used to penalise such acts is no longer available.

Section 377 removal creates legal gap

For decades, Section 377 was the primary statute used to prosecute “unnatural offences”, which included both homosexual acts between consenting adults and the sexual exploitation of animals.

When the Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgment, decriminalised consensual same-sex relations, the legislative transition to the new BNS effectively saw the old section scrapped.

However, activists argue that in the process of modernising the code and removing colonial-era stigmas surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, the government inadvertently removed the only robust legal protection against bestiality.

Activists call for specific legal provisions

Animal welfare activist Xavier Santiago said, “Section 377 specifically criminalised carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal. Since the new BNS completely omitted this provision, there is currently no specific penal section in India’s primary criminal code that criminalises sexual violence against animals.”

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, the organisation has received more than 40 complaints of sexual assault on animals since the implementation of BNS 2023 in July 2024.

Data shows rise in reported cases

“The victims include cows, dogs, goats and horses who were sexually assaulted. This marks a rise compared to the cases received when the IPC was in effect, highlighting an alarming trend requiring immediate intervention. The current provisions are not fully sufficient, and we urge the Centre to amend the BNS to include a specific provision to criminalise sexual abuse of animals, as existed under the IPC since 1860,” said PETA India director of cruelty response Meet Ashar.

Courts, PILs and pending amendments

Efforts to restore stricter laws against the sexual exploitation of animals have been ongoing since the BNS came into existence. In August 2024, the Delhi High Court suggested that the Union government should consider promulgating an ordinance penalising forced unnatural sex and sodomy.

In another petition in May 2025, the Delhi High Court asked the Centre to consider a plea from an animal welfare organisation seeking specific legal provisions to prosecute sexual crimes against animals. Both matters are yet to receive judgments.

“The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) has filed Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court to restore these protections. There is also a pending Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill that aims to introduce Section 13A, which would restore life imprisonment or up to 10 years of jail for bestiality,” Santiago said.

Appeals to amend BNS, use existing sections

PETA India has also written to the Union Home Minister on the issue, including most recently on February 21, 2025, seeking an urgent amendment to the BNS to protect animals and humans by reinstating and strengthening provisions explicitly criminalising sexual assault on animals.

However, activists have urged citizens and animal feeders not to be disheartened by the absence of a specific law and to invoke BNS Section 325 wherever possible.

“While there is work to do to strengthen the BNS, animal abusers must beware that they can still be booked under Section 325, including for forms of sexual violence. That section makes it illegal to harm animals by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering them useless,” Ashar said.

“For a conviction under BNS Section 325, the prosecution must prove that the accused had the deliberate intention or knowledge that their act would cause wrongful loss. This makes it difficult to prosecute cases of accidental harm or gross negligence,” Santiago added.

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Earlier reports highlight scale of abuse

In 2021, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations released a report revealing that 4.93 lakh animals had been victims of recorded crimes over the past decade, with many cases involving sexual violence.

A previous Voice of Stray Dogs report had calculated that sexual abuse against animals was committed at a rate comparable to human rape cases, after accounting for underreporting.

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