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Dubai: Indian tweeps are outraged and they have every reason to be. A pregnant goat was gang-raped by eight men in Haryana’s Mewat district.

The seven-year-old animal who was ‘not able to walk’ after the ordeal, succumbed to the injuries and died.

Since this morning, the story has been shared thousands of times and #JusticeForGoat is now a top trend, with more than 28,000 tweets, and counting.

According to a report by Indian newspaper Hindustan Times: “Police have registered a case under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits ‘...intercourse against the order of Nature with man, woman or animal’ and under the Animal Cruelty Act.”

Owner, Aslup Khan went to look for his goat when he noticed that she had gone missing. He raised an alarm and took the help of other villagers. On hearing noises they went to investigate and found three men assaulting the goat.

According to the report, police said that those accused were locals and three of them were beaten up by villagers after getting caught in the act. They told the villagers that there were more people involved but were on the run. Khan then brought the goat home to tend to the injuries but it remained “paralysed”.

On Sunday, Nazneen Bhasin, superintendent of police in Nuh said in an interview: “Our team is investigating the case and has recorded the statement of the goat’s owner, who allegedly caught the three accused in the act. We are also in the process of recording the statements of other eyewitnesses and villagers to know the exact sequence of the crime and arrests will be made once we get all the details.”

On Twitter, users were livid when the news broke. Animal rights advocate, Meet Ashar @asharmeet02 tweeted: “Shameful - pregnant goat reportedly gang-raped and killed by 8 men… There has been a steep increase in cases of sexual abuse against animals. People who are violent often start with animals as victims and then move on to humans.” Ashar is also a member of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) India.

Tweep @GowharS1 said: “What kind of a society are we going to build? How can we expect the safety of our women in a society where animals are not safe? Alas, human beings are turning into senseless creatures!”

@joeldvs777 echoed the same sentiments and said: “Sometimes I see such news and cannot believe it’s true. I mean …everyday - new low for some lunatics in this country.”

Online trolls were quick to blame religion for such crimes, and discussed the recent  mob lynching that took place in India. This started another debate on social media.

Tweep @DeepikaBhardwaj said: “It’s unbelievable how people have made the religion of rapist more important than the crime of rape itself. Absolutely disgusted. Don't know who started it but please stop perpetuating it because of vested interests of few. #JusticeForGoat.”

Earlier this year, in a Thomson Reuters Foundation survey, India was named as the most dangerous country in the world for women, where around 106 rapes take place in a day. Many readers commented on Gulf News’ official Facebook page and raised concerns whether India was truly safe anymore.

A lot of enraged tweeps discussed the issue of rape in India and how India is now unsafe for animals too.

In Haryana, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) holds a majority and many tweeps blamed political parties for their “fake promises” and their inability to make the country safe.