Police on Wednesday arrested the woman allegedly drowning eight puppies in a pond in Pabna’s Iswardi.
Additional Superintendent of Police in Pabna Pranab Kumar said she was arrested in a raid on a house near Rahimpur Girls’ School, where she had taken shelter after the case was filed.
The woman names Nishi Khatun is the wife of Small Farmers Foundation officer of iswardi upazila Hasanur Rahman Noyon. She had been residing with her husband at a government quarter in Iswardi upazila Parishad.
According to sources, the woman had placed the puppies, who had been living on the premises of the government quarter of the upazila, in a sack and drowned them in the pond on the night of November 30.
The next morning, the son of the woman informed Jahangir Alam, caretaker at the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Iswardi.
Later, eight dead puppies were recovered from the pond, still in the sack.
The matter came to the public through social media and received widespread criticism.
On 2 December, Ishwardi Upazila Livestock Officer Aklima Khatun filed a case under Section 7 of the Animal Welfare Act 2019 on behalf of the Director General of the Department of Livestock Services, where the woman Nishi Khatun was the sole accused.
Following widespread media and social media coverage of the incident, Farida Akter, advisor to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, described the act as “inhumane” and instructed strict action against those involved.
Later, on Tuesday afternoon, an investigative team from the Animal Activist Committee arrived in Ishwardi from Dhaka to begin an inquiry.
Meanwhile, due to this brutal act, the accused’s family was instructed to vacate their government quarters.
UNO Moniruzzaman stated that they have already vacated the premises.
Additional SP said the woman is expected to be produced before a court on Wednesday.
Aman/