The Kerala Police on Saturday booked a man who was seen in a viral video carrying an air gun claiming to shoot stray dogs while he was escorting a group of children to a Madrasa.
The man identified as Sameer, a native of Bakal in Kasargod district has been booked under IPC Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) after the video went viral.
In the video, which Sameer said was shot by his son, he can be seen walking with an air gun in his hand, while a group of children followed him.
In it, Sameer can be heard saying that he will shoot if any stray dog tries to attack the children.?
After the video went viral on social media, Sameer claimed that just a day before a stray dog had attacked a young boy, after which children in the neighbourhood?became scared to go to the madrasa.
Sameer said that it was his responsibility as a father to ensure the protection of his children from stray dogs.
Though in the video, he is heard saying that he will shoot at strays after the controversy Sameer claimed that the air gun he was carrying was not capable of killing a dog.
This comes at a time when there is growing anger in Kerala over the increase in stray dog attacks.
So far more than 20 people have died in Kerala due to rabies infection from dog attacks.
In the past few days, some isolated cases of people killing stray dogs have also been reported. But there is no mass killing of stray dogs in Kerala as Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul have claimed in their social media posts.
On Friday Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the menace of stray dogs cannot be solved by killing them and such acts are unacceptable.
"Indulging in such acts is unacceptable.?Stray dog problem cannot be solved by killing the dogs. To overcome this problem, the scientific solution implemented by the government needs the support of the general public. We need to work together to solve this crisis," CM Vijayan said.
Apart from dog bites and rabies infection, the number of road accidents involving strays are also on the rise in Kerala.
On Wednesday, a a 25-year-old man from Thiruvananthapuram succumbed to head injuries suffered in an accident involving a dog.
Rabies infection from dogs to other animals have also spiked in the state and on Thursday, a cow showing signs of rabies was shot dead in Thrissur.
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