On 20th October, a 3-year-old girl named Pari Deepak Goswami was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in the Yashwant Nagar area of Jalna city in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district of Maharashtra. The incident took place in the early hours at around 3:30 AM and triggered widespread outrage against the municipal council over its failure to control the stray dog menace. Reportedly, the child was living with her parents and elder sister in a rented house. She stepped out of the home unnoticed.
CCTV footage of the incident showed a pack of 6-7 dogs chasing and attacking the child. As she fell down during the attack, the pack of dogs dragged her to an isolated vacant plot. She succumbed to severe bite wounds and excessive bleeding without being noticed by anyone. Police Constable Madan Bahure later saw the dead body when he was out for a morning walk.
Media reports suggest that Deepak Goswami, the victim’s father, is from Bihar. He and his wife had an argument over going to Bihar for Diwali. His wife insisted on going to their hometown in Bihar, while Deepak wanted to stay back. On the night of 19th October, Deepak dropped his wife at the railway station. Pari, instead of going with her mother, returned home with her father. At around 3:30 AM on 20th October, she woke up looking for her mother and went out searching for her when the dogs attacked, unnoticed by her father and elder sister, who were asleep.
Jalna Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Bansal confirmed that the incident happened due to a stray dog attack.
Public anger over civic inaction
The incident triggered anger against the municipal body, and the locals accused the authorities of ignoring repeated complaints about the increasing number of stray dogs in the area. A resident, speaking to the media, said that every lane has 10-15 dogs roaming freely. “We begged the authorities to act, but nothing happened. Now a child has died.”
Locals protested against the municipal officials and demanded that they be charged with culpable homicide. Police are consulting legal experts to determine if criminal negligence charges can be applied.
On the other hand, the Jalna Municipal Council has claimed that 218 dogs have been sterilised and vowed to intensify operations. However, the locals dismissed the assurances as mere “paperwork”. While the municipal officials said the sterilisation drive would be intensified, there is no evidence that it stops the dogs from attacking or biting children and other vulnerable people.
OpIndia is doing a series on stray dog menace that can be checked here.
