A man, identified as Rishabh Mehra from the Indian city of Noida has been caught brutally beating a five-month-old labrador puppy called "Buddy" at his house.
Shared on the Twitter handle of advocate Sukriti Chauhan on Wednesday, the video, which has since gone viral, was shot from someone else's balcony. In the video one can see the culprit thrashing the puppy with a belt as it cries out for help.
WARNING: The following video is disturbing and may offend sensibilities
The rescuer Vibha Chugh, who lives nearby, called the cops and got the puppy rescued within an hour.
"Buddy was beaten for months and one neighbour heard the puppy's shrieking, whining, and made these videos. She reached out to me for help. After a heated argument with Rishabh Mehra in the presence of the cops, we managed to rescue Buddy who was traumatised and shivering in fear and pain. We immediately took him to the vet who said that its thighs are broken and have severe injuries in the genital areas", Vibha told Sputnik.
Vibha also alleged that the police officers had been bribed by the perpetrator and they refused to file a police complaint.
"I had to wait for 13 hours at the police station and put my foot down to get the police complaint registered".
Advocate Sukriti stepped in, and with the help of federally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Maneka Gandhi and her NGO People For Animals, the police complaint was lodged.
"The man seems to have major anger management issues and if he can do this to an animal, he can harm humans too. He nearly killed the dog and if we wouldn't have built the pressure from the minister, the puppy would have gone back to the same abuser's hand", Sukriti added.
Buddy now requires multiple surgeries and is in the care of the rescuer and a team from the NGO People For Animals.
Though the police complaint has been lodged, an arrest is yet to be made.
Angered over the incident, many animal lovers, and celebrities have been tweeting about it, demanding the culprit be arrested.