Mumbai Police Crack Down on Illegal Horse-Cart Race Following PETA India Complaint
Vile Parle Police Station has registered a first information report (FIR) and arrested one of the alleged perpetrators involved in a cruel and illegal horse-cart race organised on 13 May on the Western Express Highway along the Vile Parle to Kherwadi route. This action followed a 20-day investigation by senior police officials, prompted by a complaint from PETA India. PETA India became aware of the incident when a whistleblower shared a video showing numerous men mercilessly whipping and beating horses, forcing them to run amid the chaos of noisy motorcycles and shouting riders.
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After submitting a formal complaint to the commissioner of police, Mumbai, PETA India worked closely with Shri Paramjit Singh Dahiya, IPS, the additional commissioner of police, West Region, Mumbai. The FIR was registered under sections 34, 279, 289, and 336 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and sections 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(d) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Four of the abused horses were seized.
PETA India pointed out in its letter to the commissioner of police that the High Court of Bombay, through its 2015 judgment, ruled that none of the stables for horses in Mumbai possess a licence under Section 394 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. The group also referred to a 2016 Rajasthan High Court order which banned tonga races in the state of Rajasthan following a study report submitted by the Animal Welfare Board of India. The report highlighted the cruelty inherent in forcing horses to run on roads amid traffic – conditions that are frightening and distressing for the animals, as seen during the illegal race on the Western Express Highway.
