Gangetic Dolphin Beaten To Death In UP, 3 Arrested As Video Goes Viral

A dolphin is beaten to death with sticks and rods by a group of men in a disturbing video that has emerged from Uttar Pradesh. Three men have been arrested after the video went viral on social media.

In a tweet, the police in Pratapgarh said the incident took place on December 31 and three of the attackers are in jail. The gangetic dolphin is a protected species.

In a display of extreme cruelty, the men are seen on the video raining blows on the dolphin as blood gushes from its body. Some men can be seen holding down the dolphin. "Faaltu mein maar rahe ho yaar (you are assaulting it for no reason)," someone is heard saying but the men do not stop.

As the dolphin bleeds, a man can be seeing attacking it with an axe and driving the weapon into its body. Towards the end of the video, the dolphin appears to be nearly lifeless from the vicious attack.

An official of the forest department, who responded to a call on the dolphin, reportedly found it lying lifeless by the side of a canal. He says in an FIR (First Information Report) that there was a crowd of villagers surrounding it but when asked, no one was willing to reveal how it died. A closer inspection of the body revealed multiple injuries, including axe wounds, the FIR said.

As the video surfaced online, the men were identified from a nearby village and caught, according to the police.