Two school going children were killed on Friday, 19th January, in the Banar area of Rajasthan’s Jodhpur as they were struck by a train while trying to run away from aggressive dogs chasing them. The tragic incident took place in the afternoon when Jodhpur Army Children Academy School students, 11-year-old Yuvraj Singh, and his cousin 9-year-old Ananya Kanwar, residents of Ganeshpura were leaving the school. The mothers of the two deceased children are sisters.
Both children bolted for their lives, according to the officials, after a neighbour’s pet dogs started following them. They both got on to a railroad track in order to protect themselves when a goods train struck them. They died within a short distance from the Banar Cantt train station, per the authorities.
The grieving family and locals protested and demanded that the dog owner be held accountable and immediate capture of the pets by a dog squad. The neighbourhood is dangerous, according to the residents, because the owner Omprakash Rathi maintains a lot of dogs in his home and these canines bark at passersby. A group assembled near the railroad tracks, laid out the bodies of the deceased, and called for severe punishment of the pet owner. The crowd offered support to the victims’ fathers who were in the army and are currently employed by a private company after retirement.
Najim Ali, Assistant Commissioner of Jodhpur Police said, “The police received a call around 2 PM regarding the incident and the team responded immediately. The families kept the bodies on the track as a mark of protest, which lasted for almost three hours. The police persuaded the families and requested them to allow the bodies to be taken to the hospital for a post-mortem.”
The Jodhpur Municipal Corporation (South) dog squad was contacted by the police team which hurried to the scene upon receiving information about the incident. The family members accepted the corpses when the dogs were apprehended by the dog squad. A case was filed and legal proceedings were initiated against the pet owner and his relatives. A municipal team was dispatched to remove four canines from the premises and place them at the municipal dog centre.