Navi Mumbai: A candlelight vigil was held by animal lovers at Ambernath on Sunday evening to protest the recent animal cruelty case in which a cat was thrown down from the 12th floor of Royal Flora Phase-2 tower.While the Shivaji Nagar police station has lodged an FIR against a local resident, Raju Salunke, under sections of BNS and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, he has not yet been arrested.Animal activist, Angelina Kurup, told TOI: “We are holding this candlelight vigil because the accused man (Salunke) has not been arrested despite submitting an incriminating CCTV footage of the animal cruelty. We want justice for this cat.”The family members of the accused had earlier pleaded that he is a “senior citizen and mentally ill”.However, animal lovers have asserted that the accused person had intentionally walked towards the cat resting on the parapet wall of 12th floor, and pushed it down from that great height. They added that Salunke was earlier working for the Ulhasnagar Municipal Council (UMC), so it is doubtful if he is mentally unsound.“The CCTV footage of July 25 clearly shows how the old man killed the cat.The locals have informed that he disliked the presence of cats outside his 12th floor flat. Hence, action must be taken on him,” said activist Vijay Rangare of Rakshak animal rights group.While the local police is further legally proceeding in this matter, various animal rights groups have expressed concern on rising cases of animal cruelty involving cats, dogs.
