A man in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya was arrested for allegedly raping a cow, a sacred animal for Hindus. The accused, Rajkumar, was caught red-handed by the workers of a shelter run by Kartaliya Baba Ashram. The volunteers were keeping a vigil after they came across CCTV clip showing a man raping multiple cows.

Rajkumar was caught when he returned to rape the domestic animal again, reported India Today. He was reportedly thrashed by ashram workers before being handed over to cops. Based on a complaint, a case has been registered under section 376 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a probe has been initiated into the matter.

The Ashram’s priest Ramdas is grief-stricken after the incident. “CCTV footage shows the man doing unspeakable acts with seven cows one by one. We have caught him and brought to the police station. The act has left us distraught, we are unable to understand this,” the inconsolable priest said.

Meanwhile, the accused, a resident of Nawabganj, said that he was intoxicated and couldn’t remember anything. “I was drunk, I don’t know what I did, I only remember that I was beaten by both, people who caught me and the police,” he said to India Today.