BARWANI: A 35-year-old woman, a scrap collector, died after she was attacked by stray dogs in Barwani town in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Saturday.
A doctor on the postmortem panel confirmed the presence of dog bites and scratches on the woman's body, while angry residents have demanded financial assistance for her family.
Dr Anil Singh Jamod said injury marks caused by dog bites and scratches on the woman's neck, head, hands, and legs appear to have caused her death, and a detailed postmortem report is being sent to authorities.
Superintendent of Police Padmavilochan Shukla said that he would be able to comment on the incident only after reviewing the detailed autopsy report.
Police are investigating the incident from all angles, he added.
Former councillor Rakesh Makwane told reporters that Leela Bai Bakawale had gone to collect wood and scrap in the Rajghat Road area on Friday afternoon when she was attacked by four or five stray dogs.
He said Bakawale supported her family by collecting wood and scrap.
He demanded financial assistance for the woman's family, consisting of an ailing husband, an elderly father, and a child, who he said are primarily dependent on her income.
The former councillor threatened to launch an agitation against the stray dog problem, claiming that an elderly woman had also died in a stray dog attack in the Chuna Bhatti area of the city some time ago.
The Supreme Court last November took note of the "alarming rise" in dog-bite incidents in areas such as educational institutions, hospitals and railway stations and directed that stray dogs be relocated to designated shelters after sterilisation and vaccination.
In May, the top court for the first time allowed euthanasia for rabid, incurably ill, or demonstrably dangerous stray dogs to curb the threat to human life, and issued a slew of directions to deal with the rising population of stray dogs in the country.