Mumbai man sentenced to 4 months in jail after his dog bit neighbour in lift 7 years ago

The dog, a husky, reportedly bit the neighbour's forearm. (Representational image: Unsplash)

A court in Mumbai has sentenced a man to four months in prison after his pet dog bit a neighbour inside a lift. The incident happened seven years ago, on February 1, 2018, in Worli, news agency PTI reported.

The accused, Patel, 40, was found guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 289 (negligent conduct with respect to an animal). Judicial Magistrate First Class Suhas Bhosale also fined Patel Rs 4,000, stating the victim's suffering could not be fully paid for, but the fine would offer some relief. The detailed order was made public on Wednesday, May 21.

According to the prosecution, the complainant, Ramik Shah, was going down in a lift with his one-and-a-half-year-old son and a servant when Patel tried to enter with his dog, a husky. Shah asked Patel to wait because his son was afraid of dogs, but Patel did not listen. Once inside the lift, the dog bit Shah's left forearm. Shah later filed a complaint at the Worli police station.

The court noted that CCTV footage showed that Patel "dragged his pet inside the lift," indicating a lack of compassion towards his own animal. The court added that Patel "did not care about the informant, his son and dragged his own pet inside the lift which is normally meant for human use," deciding he was not "entitled to too much leniency," and sentenced him to four months of rigorous imprisonment.

Mumbai businessman moves high court after housing society stopped his blind dog from using lift

Last month, a 51-year-old businessman from Mumbai filed a public interest litigation (PIL) at the Bombay High Court after his Lower Parel housing society declared that his blind dog would not be allowed to use any of their three lifts.

Ashish Goyal lives in a cooperative housing society that has four towers with 36 storeys each and 229 flats in total. The towers are connected and share common areas and facilities such as lobbies, lifts, parking, garden, gym etc.

He said that the problem started on January 14 last year when a society member stopped Goyal from using the lift since he was accompanied by his pet dog, Ozzy, the Free Press Journal reported. The member accused Goyal of violating the rules of the society. Upset by the incident, when Goyal filed a non-cognisable complaint against the member, other society members reportedly made false claims and incited the whole society against him and other pet owners.

(With inputs from PTI)