Two of the eight men booked for allegedly raping a pregnant goat on July 25 at a village in Haryana’s Nuh district were arrested on Thursday, reported the Hindustan Times. The seven-year-old goat died a day after the alleged incident in Maroda village, around 73 km south of Gurugram.

“We had formed three teams that were conducting raids at suspected locations,” said Nuh Superintendent of Police Nazneen Bhasin. “Two of them have been arrested from Firozpur Zirka and will be produced before the civil court on Friday.” She said five of the men are yet to be identified.

The two men were identified as Jaffar Khan, 22, and Saahukar Khan, 21, both residents of the village. The police said they are truck drivers who have been involved in various thefts in the last three years. They have also been arrested multiple times.

The men were booked under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with man, woman or animal” and under the Animal Cruelty Act at Nagina police station.

Aslup Khan, the goat’s owner and also a truck driver, said he went to the police station and identified the two men who were his neighbours. He said the men should pay him Rs 1 lakh in compensation. “I cannot forgive them for what they have done,” he said. “The goat was like my child and was to deliver. Earlier, they had stolen another four goats that I owned.”

Khan said the animal went missing from its shed on the night of July 25. On hearing a noise outside, he went out, and saw some men raping the animal. A mob beat up the accused, but later released them as they were in an inebriated state, the police said.