Ahmedabad woman alleges assault by society members over stray dog capture, society accuses her of threatening false cases

The Supreme Court on Friday modified its order and directed stray dogs to be vaccinated, sterilised and sent back to the same place where they were picked up. On the same day, a controversy erupted involving stray dogs in Ahmedabad's Vastrapur. A 52-year-old woman claimed that she was beaten up by her society members for feeding strays.

Madhuben Khar, a middle-aged woman living with her family at Satellite Centre Society for the past 10 years, was beaten up by the society members in Vastrapur for feeding street dogs. She was later taken to hospital for treatment after being made to sit in the police station for over 5 hours without a FIR being registered.

In an application to the police, Madhuben Khar, claimed that she was thrashed by society members when she asked the authorities to only capture the dog that had allegedly bitten a society member.

“I have been taking care of stray dogs in this society since pre-Covid era. They used to eat garbage and sanitary pads from society,” Madhuben told Gujarat Samachar Digital.

“In 2020, I even sterilised all the dogs of the society to avert any future inconvenience. I have also been assigned spots in the society for feeding by Maneka Gandhi, animal activist and founder of People For Animal (PFA) NGO,” she said.

According to her, “On Friday, when some people came in with nets to capture dogs, I went downstairs to ensure that they only take the dog that had allegedly bitten an old man. All of a sudden BJP worker and an active member of the society, Rutul Desai (BJP treasurer, Bodakdev ward) started screaming and attacking me along with other people.”

Khar said, “Muje laga vo nahi marenge par saari aurato ne muje sar pe aur haath pe danda marna shuru kar diya, aur phone mera chhin liya”. (I thought they wouldn’t hit me, but all the women started beating me on my head and hands with sticks, and they even snatched my phone).

Claiming the role of the BJP worker in the incident, she said, “Desai always uses his political influence to silence me for feeding the voiceless, but I am doing nothing illegal.”

She also accused the police of not filing an FIR after the incident.

On the other hand, Satellite Centre Youth Federation of Vastrapur, in a now deleted Instagram post, wrote, “A serious incident of a dog bite took place in which an elderly person was severely injured. In the past two years alone, more than 300 children, elderly people, and youngsters have been bitten by stray dogs. Following this, two stray dogs were taken away by the corporation officers as per rules.”

Calling the allegations on the society members and authorities as ‘bogus’, the federation, in a collaboration post with Rutul Desai, said, “A few so-called animal lovers and NGO members opposed the dog-capturing, creating obstacles, and even threatened to falsely implicate over 1,200 members of the society in police cases, thereby intimidating them. Taking note of this, the Satellite Centre Youth Federation and society members spoke to the MLA over the phone.”

According to the group, the MLA arrived at the housing colony at 8.30 pm (on Friday), listened to their grievances, and assured help as per the rules.

The MLA also told the society members that he would make representation to ensure a strict law by the corporation regarding the issue.