Eviction not punishment enough for killing dog: JNU students

By IANS,

New Delhi : A student of Jawaharlal Nehru University here has been evicted from the hostel for killing a dog in his room, but students of the varsity and animal rights activists are not satisfied with the punishment meted out.


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Yoronso, a fifth year PhD student, and two others killed a stray dog in his room three days ago and was Thursday asked to leave the hostel. But other students are calling for stronger action against him as Yoronso, who was already staying on a one year extension period in JNU, was due to leave after submitting his PhD this month.

“What difference did the eviction make to Yoronso? He was going to leave the hostel any way since he is due to submit his PhD July 20. Stronger action that would discourage him from repeating this mistake is what is required,” said Abhinav Sharma, who is doing his masters from the university.

However, Soumen Chattopadhyay, warden of Kaveri hostel where Yoronso stayed, maintained that the authorities have taken necessary action against him.

“As a warden, I did what I could do. This incident happened July 8, after which some students lodged a complaint to the police and then informed us. Following that I immediately recommended an eviction notice to Yoronso and asked him to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000. He has now left the hostel,” Chattopadhyay told IANS Friday.

“Since some of the students also complained to the police about the incident, an enquiry is also going on. If need be, the chief proctor of the university will constitute a committee to look into the matter further,” he added.

V.K. Jain, the acting dean of the university, said Yoronso had stated “self-defence” as the reason for his action in his letter of apology to the authorities.

In the letter, Yoronso had said that the dog entered the room and tried to attack him when he attempted to shoo it away.

Said Anupa Das, a student: “It’s not the first time that something like this has happened in the campus. About a year back, there was a similar incident of a stray dog being butchered outside a hostel. We complained about it to the authorities but no action was taken.”.

Animal rights groups, infuriated at the incident, said that mere action against one student was not a solution to the problem.

Seema Kaemra of the Circle of Animal Lovers (CAL), a Delhi-based animal rights group, said that a mass protest against such incidents that would sensitise people is the call of the day.

“Merely taking action against the student or complaining to the police is not the solution. Informing people about the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and sensitizing them to a more humane behaviour towards animals is what is required.

“In this case, a campaign with the JNU authorities and with help from the media is what would be more fruitful in the long run,” Kaemra said.

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