‘Adopted’ stray kills 4-year-old girl in Gwalior
A four-year-old girl was on Tuesday mauled to death by a stray some of her neighbours had adopted as a pet in Gwalior.
This is the latest in a string of dog attacks across the state — a pack of strays killed a child in Bhopal earlier this month.
The dog that killed Roshni Jatav is yet to be caught, which means more children may be at risk in Gwalior. It was raised as a puppy by some people in Murar locality.
On Tuesday evening, little Roshni was playing with her brother, aged seven, at the doorstep of their house. Her mother stepped inside for a moment around 6pm, and this is when the dog attacked, without provocation, say witnesses.
It caught Roshni by the throat and dragged her 100 feet. Locals, horrified by the sight, started throwing stones at the dog to scare it off, but it reacted more savagely.
It buried its fangs deeper and shook the child like a rag doll, ripping her throat, witnesses have told police. It took locals 10 minutes to get the dog to leave Roshni. She was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors couldn’t save her despite their best efforts.
After autopsy, doctors said there were deep wounds on her neck, head and abdomen. The locality is terrified that the killer dog will return. Gwalior Municipal Corporation has sent out teams in search of the stray.
Food and civil supplies minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar went to Jatav’s house and extended financial support of Rs 10,000 to the family. Locals have told police that the dog had attacked several people after being ‘adopted’ a year ago. Police have registered an FIR in this matter.
One of the theories for the spike in dog attacks across the state is that the Swachh drive is depriving them of food, making them more aggressive as they fight for every bite. But that wasn’t the case here. The ‘adopted’ stray was well fed and looked after. The attack on Roshni came out of the blue.
