Two sisters in Mumbai were beaten up and assaulted by members of their housing society for feeding stray dogs inside the building, mid-day reported. The police have arrested three residents for molesting and assaulting the women, and for rioting.

Kiran Ahuja, 29, and her sister Shilpa, 28, were surrounded by 20 members of the society, the report said. “They were in a circle around us. They tore our clothes and beat us,” Kiran was quoted as saying.

The sisters said they moved into Dindoshi’s Sanjay Gandhi Nagar SRA in March. They are both registered with the Animal Welfare Board of India. The sisters alleged that the residents started threatening them for feeding strays inside the society premises, and that things got worse after a female gave birth to a litter.

When the sisters went home to Raipur for Diwali, the society members allegedly dumped the puppies away from the building. When they returned on October 24, one of the residents Rustom Patel and his two sons came to their flat and threatened to evict them if they continued feeding the dogs, the sisters alleged. They said they filed a police complaint soon after.

That evening, Kiran said she saw Patel beating up the female dog and tried to stop him. “He called his family and other residents, who began abusing and slapping me,” Kiran told mid-day. She called her sister for help, but the residents allegedly assaulted her too. The sisters went to the police around midnight.

“An FIR was filed against Rustom Patel, his wife Rabia Patel, his son Riyaz and a fourth accused, mid-day quoted senior police inspector Uday Rajeshirke, as saying.