Maharashtra: FIR Filed After Goat Sacrifice At Kolhapur's Mahalakshmi Temple

After learning about a goat sacrifice in front of Mahalakshmi Temple in Kolhapur, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India worked with a local activist, Ashish Kamble, to get a First Information Report (FIR) registered. The sacrifice, which was performed in full view of the public, was captured on video. The footage shows a man holding the hind legs of a goat while another man beheads the animal. The FIR was registered under Sections 34 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Sections 3, 11(1)(a), and 11(1)(l) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

“PETA India commends the Kolhapur police for swiftly registering an FIR and sending the message that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated,” said PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Sinchana Subramanyan. “Animal sacrifice is both cruelty to animals and a danger to society. It desensitises us to violence and reinforces obsolete beliefs that hinder progress. Just as human sacrifice is now treated as murder, at a time when India is embarking on space missions, the archaic practice of animal sacrifice must end. It is a necessity for our societal evolution," she added.

The Supreme Court has ordered that animals can be slaughtered only in licensed slaughterhouses and that municipal authorities must ensure compliance with this ruling. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughterhouse) Rules, 2001, and the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, permit the slaughter of animals for food only in licensed slaughterhouses equipped with species-specific stunning equipment.

Gujarat, Kerala, Puducherry, and Rajasthan already have specific laws in place prohibiting the religious sacrifice of any animal in any temple or its precinct. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana prohibit it in any place of public religious worship or adoration or its precinct or in any congregation or procession connected with religious worship on a public street.