Three youths have been arrested for raping a Monitor Lizard in Maharashtra's Sahyadri Tiger Reserve. All three are accused of allegedly raping and trying to kill the Monitor Lizard. A video of this incident was caught by the police, after which this action has taken place on 7th April. All the three accused are tourists and stayed here for hunting.
The three people who have been arrested include Sandeep Tukaram, Pawar Mangesh and Janardan Kamdekar. Apart from these, another accused named Akshay Sunil Kamtekar is still absconding. All of them have been booked under various sections of the Cruelty to Animals Act. The video which is in the hands of the Forest Department, was prepared by him from his phone. All of them had gone for hunting in the Chandauli forest.
The incident happened on March 31, but they were arrested on 7th April. The photographs of the accused have also been captured in the tracker camera installed for counting the number of tigers. In the pictures, they are seen going into the forest with weapons. After the mobile video surfaced, the officials prepared a special team and on the basis of secret information, detained two accused from Sangameshwar tehsil of Ratnagiri.
When the forest officer investigated the mobile confiscated from the accused, surprising videos came to light, in which three accused were raping Monitor Lizard. When the officials asked the accused whether the victim Monitor Lizard was alive after the rape or not, the accused did not reply. At present, the police and forest department team is interrogating the three by taking them into custody.
The Forest Department has seized two bikes, a gun and a battery used in the incident from the accused. The police has also arrested fourth accused in the case.The forest department team is taking the opinion of psychiatrists and legal experts for strict action in this matter.