Idukki (Kerala) | A man has been booked for brutally killing his relative's dog during a heated family dispute in this high-range district of Kerala.

In a fit of anger, the accused took the little dog in his hands and angrily hurled it on the floor killing it, police said.

The incident happened near Nedumkandam here on Friday.

According to Cumbummettu police, the accused Rajesh was engaged in a heated war of words with one of his relatives who was living in the neighbourhood.

"The accused and his relative living in the neighbourhood had a dispute over some family property for a long time. Amidst the heated argument between the two, the relative's pet dog bit Rajesh," a police officer said. This angered the man, who took the Pomeranian dog in his hands and threw it on the floor killing it, he added.

A case was registered against him under IPC 428 (someone intentionally harms or kills animals) and sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, police added.