The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India have released a photo of actor R Madhavan holding a sign reading, “Free Sunder”, in support of releasing a 14-year-old elephant named Sunder.

Member of the Legislative Assembly, Vinay Kore donated Sunder to the Jyotiba temple in 2007, and the elephant has allegedly been kept chained and inside dark sheds since then. In December 2013, PETA apparently obtained video footage showing that Sunder’s mahout violently beat him with a pole. That same month, the High Court of Bombay ordered Sunder’s transfer to a sanctuary, but he is yet to be released by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Sarjan Bhagat.

Talking about his involvement in the initiative, Madhavan said, "Sunder is just a young elephant, not much older than my son, and he has many years of life ahead of him. He must not be forced to live it alone, in chains and in fear of being beaten. It’s high time to free Sunder."

Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Arjun Rampal, Raveena Tandon and many other top celebrities as well as more than 1,00,000 people have apparently signed PETA India’s online petition demanding the release of Sunder