Woman drove over dogs purposely

After a mad dog’s 30-minute reign of terror in Koregaon Park on Sunday, it seemed to be the turn of a woman to vent her ire on a stray in Baner on Monday. A CCTV camera installed on the premises of a private firm captured her in action. Now, a complaint has been filed against her at Chatuhshrungi police station on Tuesday night.

The incident took place on a private road inside the Daffodils Society at 9.15 am on Monday.

The camera footage shows that the woman drove the car over one of the two dogs present at the spot. The seven-month-old stray sustained severe injuries and was taken to the Aundh Hospital by Siddharth Salunke, director, Bioara Life Sciences Private Limited, from whose premises the CCTV camera is functioning.

Salunke told Mirror, “The dog was sleeping on the road when this woman — Arpita Chatterjee — ran her car over him. Immediately after the incident, my driver asked her why she did this. She told him that she did not notice the dog.”

Salunke added that after they got the dog back from the hospital at 1.30 pm on the same day, they went to her house in the same housing society.

“We went to her house to tell her about the dog’s condition. She was not ready to talk.

But later she confessed that she did it on purpose. She also dared us to file a complaint against her for the same,” Salunke added.

He claimed that the woman and her husband met him on Monday evening and warned him not to go ahead with the legal process or else she would file a complaint that Salunke threatened her. Salunke also claims that she always had a problem with the strays in the society.

Manoj Oswal, animal welfare officer, Animal Welfare Board, said, “She should be booked under Section 429 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with cruelty towards animals.”

Aarti Pendse, a practising psychologist, said, “Such people tend to think that the thing they don’t like should not be there on earth. And it should be finished off as soon as possible. This is an abnormality.”

Salunke is a dog lover and has been operating out of this office for the last two-and-a-half years. He has been taking care of stray dogs for the last 18 months or so.

He has got them sterilised and vaccinated. Several families from outside the housing society have adopted puppies delivered by a stray reared by Salunke.