Hyderabad: In yet another gruesome incident, an 18-month-old boy died after being brutally attacked by a pack of five to six stray dogs, Jawaharnagar police said here on Wednesday.
According to Jawaharnagar circle inspector G. Nagaraju, the boy, Vihaan, had come to the city with his parents Bharat and Lakshmi from Siddipet district. At around 7 pm on Tuesday, Lakshmi stepped out of the house for some work. Vihaan, who was playing outside, followed his mother, who had no idea about him following her.
In the meantime, a dog attacked Vihaan and dragged him to an isolated place, where more dogs came and attacked the boy, the CI said.
A neighbour, who came to know of the incident, informed the boy’s parents, who immediately shifted him to Meenakshi hospital, where the doctors urged that the boy be shifted to Gandhi hospital. In the meantime, Vihaan succumbed to his injuries.
In an unfortunate turn, horrific visuals of the boy’s badly bruised mauled body were circulated widely on social media platforms.
His relatives staged a protest in front of the Jawaharnagar municipal office demanding ex-gratia, the CI said.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the victim’s father Bharat said, “We had shifted to this locality only a month back. Our neighbours have told us that they have complained to the municipal authorities several times about 40-50 dogs in our locality.”
Vihaan’s mother, Lakshmi said “They have been complaining about this for so long, yet the authorities did nothing to address this menace. We have lost our only son. This has happened before. I'm sure nothing will change.”
Another resident and also a relative of the deceased, Venkatesh, said, “Our area has become a dumping yard, leading to more animals coming here. We are now tired of telling the authorities and mutton shops to stop disposing waste in our area.”
“Not just dogs, there are around three to four snakes moving around in our neighbourhood. As the authorities are doing nothing, in order to save our lives, we kill them,” Venkatesh added.
Venkatesh said that his sister’s family only wanted financial compensation. He said dengue and viral fevers had become very common because of poor maintenance of sanitation in the locality.
Meanwhile, the victim’s family went to their native place in Siddipet to perform Vihaan’s last rites.
