Telangana HC blames GHMC officials in stray dogs attack on toddler incident

Hyderabad: "Is your conscience not shaken,” the Telangana High Court asked GHMC authorities on Thursday during the first hearing of a suo motu petition on the incident where stray dogs mauled to death a four-year-old child Pradeep in Amberpet last week.

Expressing dismay over the gruesome incident, Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji asked GHMC officials “What are you doing? Stray dogs cannot roam like this.”

The bench also inquired with the GHMC standing counsel whether or not shelters had been set up to accommodate stray dogs.

Chief Justice Bhuyan told the GHMC counsel: "Is your conscience not shaken.... something has to be done. Does the GHMC have any plans to ensure that such instances don’t recur?”

The counsel replied that it was an unfortunate incident and nobody expected such a tragedy.

Expressing sadness and concern for the family of the child, the bench said that this was a clear case where compensation could be awarded to the parents of the deceased. A decision on this aspect would be taken during the hearing, the bench said.

The court issued notices to the chief secretary, principal secretary (municipal administration), GHMC commissioner, Amberpet GHMC division deputy commissioner and Hyderabad collector asking them to respond by March 16.