Mumbai: An elderly woman and her nephew were beaten up by three persons for feeding stray cats at Peddar Road on Thursday. Surprisingly, as the incident occurred at the buzz hour, nobody intervened to stop the accused miscreants from physically-assaulting the victims.
According to police, at 8.30pm, when Maya Mohnani (65) was feeding stray animals after visiting a temple, she saw a man, accompanied by his friends, kicking away a stray cat in the abdomen. When Mohnani stopped, he foulmouthed and said the cat crossed his way.
A few moments later, Mohnani’s nephew and complainant, Geeten Dudhani, an animal welfare officer, an eyewitness, intervened. It irked the accused. He asked, “Who are you and how does it matter to you?” When Mohnani asked him to mind his tongue, he shoved the elderly woman out of his way. “An agitated Dudhani pushed him. He started hitting her mercilessly on the street.
My mother immediately called me to intervene. As the men saw me approaching, they tried to escape and two fled the spot. However, one was caught. We managed to take his mobile phone and a picture,” said Mohnani’s son, Vijay.
While everyone was tending to Dudhani, who sustained a fracture, the man escaped. Dudhani was immediately rushed to a private hospital, where he received treatment. Later, Dudhani approached Gamdevi police, who at first refused to register a case.
After much dillydallying, a case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Cruelty to Animals Act against the three unknown persons, said Amit Shivadekar, the investigating officer. Vijay Mohnani, an animal lover himself, who assisted Dudhani to register a complaint, said, “The police were unaware of the law against animal cruelty.
Moreover, people who witnessed the incident at Peddar Road, did not intervene. If such is the case in South Mumbai, one can imagine what had happened in the suburbs.” Police are scrutinising the CCTV footage to nab the accused. “We have sought a CCTV footage from the complainant’s building and are investigating the matter,” said Shivadekar.
