A woman in the northern Indian city of Moradabad has been charged under the Wildlife Protection Act for allegedly capturing and burning alive a feral cat after it crossed her path. The incident was brought to light after a video of the act circulated online, leading to a formal complaint to Delhi’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.
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Identified by the name Priya, the woman from Laluwala village, along with her friends, reportedly killed the cat due to a widespread superstition in India that a cat crossing one’s path brings bad luck. The police stated that Priya, believed to be in her early 30s, and her group filmed the horrific act, which shows them beating the cat, dousing it with petrol, and setting it ablaze.
Local police and forest authorities have charged Priya and her accomplices under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, which carries penalties of up to three years in prison and a substantial fine for acts of animal cruelty. Moradabad divisional forest officer, Suraj Kumar, told The Times of India that the police were able to trace Priya through the registration number on the motorbike seen in the video.
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India has witnessed several cases of animal cruelty in recent years, some of which have prompted police action. In 2020, a pregnant wild elephant died after consuming a firecracker-filled pineapple, and earlier this year, a man set a dog and a scooter on fire in a dispute. Such incidents have sparked growing calls for harsher punishments to combat animal abuse.
