The RCF Police has started an investigation to identify an unknown person behind the killing of six cats in the past week or more in the Govandi area of Mumbai, after an FIR was registered on September 7 based on a complaint lodged by local animal feeder Rubina Abdul Malik Pathan.

Pathan, a resident of Kamawadi near the Shani Temple in Panjrapole, Govandi, reported that she had been feeding and caring for stray cats in the neighborhood for the past five to six years.

The FIR stated that on September 5, when Pathan went to feed the strays at around 10 am, she found two cats with severe head trauma, likely inflicted by a heavy object.

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The dead cats were discovered two days after Pathan found four other stray cats, killed under similarly cruel conditions, in the same vicinity.

Pathan later contacted the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India for guidance and submitted carcasses of two cats to the animal hospital in Parel for further procedures. She also approached the RCF Police Station with animal activist Pooja Srivastava to file a formal complaint.

The police have booked an unidentified suspect under Section 325 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, along with Sections 11(1)(a) and 11(1)(l) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

Meanwhile, PETA has announced a cash prize of Rs 50,000 to anyone who provides information on the alleged perpetrator.