GUWAHATI

The Guwahati Railway Police (GRP) on Tueday (October 6, 2026) registered an FIR (first information report) against an unknown man for kicking chicks onto railway tracks at the Guwahati Railway Station and leaving them to die.

In a video of the incident on Thursday (October 1, 2026) he chicks appeared to have endured a rough and stressful journey, apparently without proper enclosures to ensure their safe transport. The footage shows a man kicking some chicks onto the railway tracks to be left for dead.

The video further shows numerous chicks scattered across the train floor, some alive, others barely responsive and several seemingly suffering from serious injuries or broken bones.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-India (PETA-India) worked with local animal rights activist Aditi Bakshi to pursue police action. The GRP subsequently registered the FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

“Chicks feel pain, stress and fear, and kicking, injuring, and throwing these fragile birds onto railway tracks is outrageous cruelty,” PETA-India’s senior cruelty response officer, Sinchana Subramanyan, said.

According to PETA-India, the Guwahati Railway Station incident highlights the “routine and unacceptable” suffering faced by chicks in the egg and meat industries, where newborn birds deemed unwanted, including male chicks in the egg industry since they cannot lay eggs, are killed or discarded shortly after hatching.

“Unwanted chicks are often crushed, suffocated, drowned, or sent through grinders along with dead birds and eggshells... Some chicks are coloured and sold as toys to children, only to often die from toxins or mishandling shortly after,” the animal rights organisation said in a statement on Thursday (October 8, 2026).