Mumbai: A Mumbai court has sentenced a 40-year-old Worli resident to four months rigorous imprisonment for failing to control his pet dog that bit his neighbour inside a lift on February 1, 2018. The Dadar Metropolitan Magistrate passed the order against Rishab Patel on May 21 this year after a prolonged hearing.
The complainant is one Ramik Shah. According to him, he, along with his son and domestic help, were going down in the lift from their fourth-floor apartment when the incident occurred.
Patel was waiting on the third floor with his pet Husky. When he attempted to enter the lift, Shah told Patel that his son is scared of dogs and asked him to wait outside for a while or let them leave. Patel refused and dragged the dog into the lift. After a further round of altercation over the issue, the dog apparently bit Shah in his left forearm.
Shah registered a complaint with the police. Though the Worli police registered an FIR and prosecuted Patel, the latter’s advocate argued that his client was being falsely accused. There was also a delay in collecting the CCTV footage. The court was not convinced though and convicted Patel.
Based on available evidence, the court said that the accused had ignored Shah’s request and knowingly refrained from giving orders to his pet dog that would prevent any danger to human life.
The first-class judicial magistrate observed that the one-year-old son of the victim was present in the lift and said: “He did not care about the informant or his son and dragged his pet inside the lift, which is normally meant for human use.”
While sentencing the dog owner, the court added that the victim might have suffered both physically and mentally. Patel has also been fined Rs 4,000.
