An animal activist in Wembley Estate, a group housing society in Sector 50 here, had to face the wrath of fellow residents for standing up against cruelty to animals. Meenakshi Rajagopalan, a volunteer for NGO Umeed, was fighting against the RWA’s alleged directions to throw out two stray dogs.
Ms. Rajagopalan has now reportedly been asked to vacate the house by her landlord Rajeev Gupta, who is also the president of the residents’ welfare association of Wembley Estate. She added that she was laughed at by the police for taking a stand.
‘Police laughed at me’
Ms. Rajagopalan said she was walking towards the main entrance of the society on Wednesday when she noticed the security guards trying to get a stray dog into a bed sheet. When she confronted them, the guards told her that they had directions from the RWA and that they had already captured another dog.
She told the guards that it was a punishable offence, but they refused to relent. “I called the PCR and a police team reached the society. They told me to lodge a complaint. I did that at the Sadar Police Station. But the Investigation Officer, Ram Niwas, who came for inquiry on Friday poked fun at me. He made fun of me for not being able to speak in Hindi. He even asked me to leave the society,” said Ms. Rajagopalan.
Ms. Rajagopalan said she wanted the society to route their issues through an NGO so that the dogs could be sterilised and vaccinated. “It is punishable under the Indian Penal Code and the acts against cruelty to animals. The dogs should be sterilised and vaccinated and allowed inside the campus,” she said.
RWA president Rajeev Gupta said security was the responsibility of the builder and that the RWA had not issued any directions to the guards. “I feel that stray animals cannot be allowed inside the gated community. Also, our rent agreement is due to expire in October this year and we are free to ask her to vacate. The two things are not related,” said Mr. Gupta.
An FIR has been registered in this matter.
