A pack of stray dogs mauled to death an 18-month-old boy at a park in Chandigarh’s Sector 18 on Sunday, the Hindustan Times reported.
An unidentified police officer said the child was playing in the park with his three elder siblings while their mother, who is a domestic help, was working at a house nearby. The family lives in Palsora.
The child’s uncle, Popat Lal, told the daily that the boy was on a swing when the dogs started barking aggressively at him and then attacked him. He said the dogs dragged the boy into a puddle of water. “The other siblings ran away in fear,” said Lal.
The child was taken to the government hospital in Sector 16, but doctors declared him dead on arrival. A doctor at the hospital said the child had suffered deep wounds.
“We have recorded statements of the family members and initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Sector-19 Station House Officer Davinder Singh told The Times of India.
The stray dog menace has been a growing problem across the country. On Thursday, the Uttarakhand High Court ordered the state government to remove all stray dogs from the streets within six months while hearing a petition that said stray dogs have bitten 11,000 people in five years in the state.
On June 1, the Supreme Court sought a detailed report from the Uttar Pradesh government on alleged culling of dogs. At least 14 stray dog attack-related deaths have been reported in the state since November.
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