"A raped dog will never again be 100 per cent okay”

The team meeting SPI Sudhir Kudalkar

The more times we saw the footage to blur the man's penis, the more desensitised we became to the rape," Shai Divan tells us over the phone. The Jai Hind College student is director of Two Biscuits, a film made as part of the final assessment for this year's Bachelor of Mass Media course. Divan, and seven other students, made a 15-minute documentary about the sexual assault of dogs: On streets and in homes. And it was adjudged best documentary of the batch.

It was a problem the Breach Candy resident was aware of as she fostered animals and volunteered with shelters. And when she first floated the idea among other social issues that could be highlighted, the response was a confused, "How can one dog rape another?"

She explained that it was humans raping dogs - community dogs who lived on streets, as well as pet dogs in homes. And those raping them were not mentally ill, angry, men who lived on streets, but also elegant socialites living in tony neighbourhoods. And the latter were never really caught; at least feeders realise when a community dog is missing or rush to help when they find him or her in a pool of blood, or disfigured genitals. Psychologists whom the research team spoke to said that often the impetus was just power. A superiority complex: I can get away with this. The dog cannot tell anyone.

The team with tee-shirts named after some of the rape victims; (right) Shai Divan with a dog

Divan had known of, met or cared for Noorie, Rani and Yara, celebrating when Yara finally stole a treat. "She was a timid dog who lived on Marine Drive," says Divan, who has since moved to Karnataka to work with a reptiles. "A feeder, Mallika Kamodia, saw her in the morning, and the evening feeder, Peppino Bahl, found her with her anus disfigured and wounded. And this was on the day of the city marathon! In a crowded area like Marine Drive! There was possible insertion by a human penis, but it could not be proved without a swab test or other concrete evidence." And there are no facilities to do that for an animal.

The tragedy of dog sexual abuse is manifold: You can't prove it without a lab test to confirm the presence of human sexual fluids; Often, the dog doesn't resist it because of shutdown - a state of numbness, detachment and disassociation from the body caused by trauma; Decriminalization of Section 377 advanced LGBTQiA+ rights in humans, but also made bestiality legal. Sexually assaulting an animal is no longer a non-bailable offence; it's just cruelty to animals and the fine is Rs 50.

The team also comprised Shreya Shahe, Vanshika Lakhani, Ayush Karande, Tanishtha Thakur, Srushti Pagariya, Keshika Shah and Dhruv Mandhani. The research took three months, and it was shocking how many names came up, almost entirely all street dogs. The title for the documentary, Two Biscuits, came from how little it takes for a dog to trust you.

That's all it took for a food delivery guy to lure sweet and docile Noorie in Powai, and rape her. The feeder, Devi Seth, found her hiding and whimpering in a godown in a pool of blood in the evening. Medical examination revealed a nine-inch metal rod had been inserted into her. The NGO, World for All, took over her care. "Her insides were like scrambled eggs," says Divan, who fostered her for a month. "Animal behaviourist Shirin Dhabhar told us that a sexually assaulted dog will never be a 100 per cent," says Divan, who also spoke to lawyers and police officers. "It may look like s/he's quiet or withdrawn, but that's a trauma response: A shut down state. People think that because the dog is not biting or reacting, she doesn't know or mind what is happening, but that also happens with humans. So many times rape victims are asked why they didn't fight back or complain. But they can't; they dissociate from their bodies. Yara wouldn't respond to treats, walks or toys. She was scared of men, and would not go to my dad." Things got better when she befriended another dog and they played together. However, Noorie, on the other hand, got cancer after and passed away. Her carers are convinced the fatal disease was caused by the stress of her trauma.

As Divan and team spoke to more people, more cases were unearthed. And the lack of legal recourse in such cases too. Senior Police Inspector Sudhir Kudalkar is the first, and sometimes the only one, to help register and take action in such cases. But he also rued not being able to do much given restrictions of the law. What the Indian Penal Code needs is to recognise and detail degrees of animal cruelty as it does for humans - sexual, physical, fatal, mental withholding of welfare, intention to harm - and stipulate appropriate punishment in terms of bail, imprisonment and fees accordingly. Grievous offences should be made non-bailable with a rigorous imprisonment.

Animal carers, who find these dogs with anuses and vaginas prolapsed by the brutality, often need therapy. Some of them, like a feeder in Powai, have to stoically video the abuse for the sake of evidence, before stopping it. "She saw a watchman abusing Rani, and acted on logic rather than emotions, and videoed it before intervening," Divan says, "She gave the footage over to us, just so that we could raise awareness. Just editing the small bit, where we had to outline the man's genitals to blur them, took four hours. We were so desensitized by then."

The documentary will soon be released on YouTube and on Instagram (@rockbottomadoptions), as awareness is the first step to the solution. The team asked all their subjects - mental health professionals, animal carers and professionals, cops, lawyers - what they would like to say to a dog who had been raped.

Unilaterally, the response was one form or the other of: I'm sorry; Humans don't deserve you.