Dog bites neighbour in lift; owner sentenced to four months in jail

Mumbai | A magistrate's court here has sentenced to four months' imprisonment a man whose pet dog had bitten a neighbour inside a lift of his residential building in Worli area.

The decision came seven years after the incident.

Accused Rishabh Patel (40) did not show much compassion to his pet Husky dog too, the court said in its ruling on May 21. The detailed order became available on Wednesday.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Suhas Bhosale found the accused guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal). The court also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 on Patel, saying the victim's sufferings "cannot be compensated in terms of money" but it would give him some relief.

The incident had taken place on February 1, 2018.

As per the prosecution, complainant Ramik Shah was going down in a lift with his one-and-a-half-year-old son and servant when Patel sought to enter with his dog.

Shah requested Patel to wait as his son was afraid of dogs, but Patel did not pay heed, and the dog bit Shah's left forearm once inside the lift, it said.

Later, Shah filed a complaint at the Worli police station.

The prosecution examined four witnesses, including Shah, during the trial.

"The way the accused dragged his pet inside the lift as it is visible from CCTV footage shows he is not compassionate towards his own pet," the court noted in its ruling.

The "accused did not care about the informant, his son and dragged his own pet inside the lift which is normally meant for human use", it further said, holding that Patel was not "entitled to too much leniency", and sentenced him to four months' rigorous imprisonment.