Police have arrested eight men in a village in Haryana’s Mewat district for raping a goat. The seven-year-old goat was pregnant and died a day after the assault, police said.

The accused are locals with previous criminal records. Three of them were beaten up by villagers after the owner of the goat caught them in the act.

Police have registered a case under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal” and under the Animal Cruelty Act.

Investigations

“Our team is investigating the case and has recorded the statement of the goat’s owner, who allegedly caught the three accused in the act.

We are also in the process of recording the statements of other eyewitnesses and villagers to know the exact sequence of the crime and arrests will be made once we get all the details,” the superintendent of police said.

The owner, Aslup Khan, said his goat went missing from its shed, located adjacent to his house after which he and other villagers started looking for it.

Drunk

“It was around 11pm when I heard some noise and went out. The gate of the shed was open. I panicked and raised an alarm, as four of my goats had been stolen in the past and this was the only one left. While we were looking around, we found three men sexually assaulting my goat,” said 27-year-old Khan, a truck driver.

Khan said they caught hold of them and beat them up, but were let off later as they were in an inebriated state and were regular offenders. He further said that the three men told them about five others who had allegedly raped the goat that night.

Bhasin said the three men have a criminal record and were jailed in the past for allegedly stealing motorcycles and cattle.