Man jailed for 14 days over rare dolphin’s death
A villager who was arrested after mishandling an endangered Indus dolphin, leading to its death, has been sent to jail for 14 days.
Officials from the Sindh Wildlife Department’s Sukkur region team presented themselves before an additional sessions judge in Shaheed Benazirabad on Monday, with an FIR against the offender, Khadim Hussain.
The court told the accused to submit a fine of Rs250,000 but upon his inability to furnish the amount, the judge sent him to jail for 14 days.
On Friday afternoon, villagers near a minor distributary of the Sukkur Barrage system’s Rohri Canal found the baby dolphin stranded in the waterway.
Seemingly oblivious to the dolphin’s significance, some of them jumped into the canal and caught it, rather than waiting for rescuers. Dozens of other residents arrived to see the mammal, filming the spectacle.
Video clips going viral on social media showed Hussain dragging the dolphin, slung across his shoulders, out of the water, as the crowd applauded him.