Sexual crimes against animals: Plea in HC
Delhi High Court
is likely to examine a plea seeking to prosecute those involved in sexual crimes against animals next month.
The bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on May 28 posted the matter for further hearing on July 16 to enable the petitioner to bring more facts on record.
The court was dealing with a plea filed by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) that highlighted the consequences of the "complete repeal" of Section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of IPC under the newly enacted Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
While Section 377 of the IPC was read down by Supreme Court in the 2018 Navtej Singh Johar judgment to decriminalise consensual same-sex relationships, its complete deletion from BNS inadvertently decriminalised sexual violence against animals, it said.
The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, the plea said, in its report on BNS highlighted the removal of Section 377, proposing reinstating it to address non-consensual sexual offences against men, transpersons and animals.
It submitted that in April 2025 alone, a couple of crimes were reported in Delhi against animals. A man was arrested in Shahdara for allegedly raping several dogs. A pet dog, which succumbed later, was found unconscious on a road in Saket, and a condom was found in its intimate parts. tnn
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