Bestiality in India: Sexual Violence Against Animals and the Emerging Legal Vacuum

Aqsa Sikandar Fatima; Razia Chauhan

doi:10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_14

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Bestiality in India: Sexual Violence Against Animals and the Emerging Legal Vacuum

Authors

Aqsa Sikandar Fatima¹^{, *}, Razia Chauhan²

¹Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201306, India

²Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201306, India

^*Corresponding author. Email: aqsa.khan321@gmail.com

Corresponding Author

Aqsa Sikandar Fatima

Available Online 7 July 2026.

DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_14 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Bestiality; Repeal of Sect. 377; Legal Vacuum
Abstract: Bestiality is a sexual act between human and an animal. It is an immoral and illegal act. The legality of this act lies on the basis of consent as animals are incapable of giving consent. Bestiality in many countries is a punishable offence. India also considers it an illegal and criminal act. Earlier in Indian Penal Code this act was punishable under Sect. 377 with 10 years imprisonment, but after the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanchita 2023 was introduced, this provision was repealed. The reason for the exclusion of this provision was decriminalization of homosexuality after the landmark judgement of Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. However, the Supreme Court clarified Sect. 377 of Indian penal Code would remain in force for other offences and also for non-consensual homosexuality. Despite this the framers of this new law did not consider the sensitivity of this section and repealed it completely which has created a legal vacuum in the Criminal Justice system. Now the cases of bestiality are getting registered under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 which also did not specifically cover sexual act or bestiality in its ambit. This legal vacuum has created the big necessity to have a specialized law for the offence of Bestiality.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Conceptualizing Legal Framework and Policies for Domestic Animal and Wildlife Conservation: Issues and Challenges in Hybrid Mode (ICAR 2026)
Series: Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date: 7 July 2026
ISBN: 978-94-6239-725-5
ISSN: 2667-128X
DOI: 10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_14 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

ris enw bib

TY  - CONF
AU  - Aqsa Sikandar Fatima
AU  - Razia Chauhan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/07
TI  - Bestiality in India: Sexual Violence Against Animals and the Emerging Legal Vacuum
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Conceptualizing Legal Framework and Policies for Domestic Animal and Wildlife Conservation: Issues and Challenges in Hybrid Mode (ICAR 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 158
EP  - 168
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_14
ID  - Fatima2026
ER  -

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