HYDERABAD: In a heart-wrenching and horrifying incident, a four-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of ferocious stray dogs in the heart of the city. The chilling incident that was captured on CCTV cameras on Sunday evening once again raises questions about the safety of the public, particularly children, in the streets of Hyderabad where stray dogs move menacingly.
The incident came to light on Tuesday morning after the CCTV footage went viral. The boy walking alone in the street was surrounded and attacked by the dogs.
In the CCTV footage, the boy, Pradeep, was seen walking down a lane at Road No 6 in Bagh Amberpet, carrying some food in a carry bag, when five dogs left the boy fatally injured. This is the second such incident in the city in less than a year. A boy was killed in a similar manner by canines in Golconda’s Bada Bazar area in April 2022.
Though the boy made an effort to dodge the attack, the snarling canines gave him no chance. They surrounded him, pulled him to the ground and bit him all over.
Hearing the cries, his father Gangadhar rushed to the spot and found Pradeep profusely bleeding. The boy sustained grievous injuries on his stomach, neck and head. His father rushed the boy to C C Shroff Hospital in Barkatpura, where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Gangadhar and his wife Janapriya took the body directly from the hospital to their native village Indalwai in Nizambad district and performed the last rites. The couple moved to Erukula Basti in Bagh Ambarpet some time ago for a living.
The gruesome visuals went viral on social media, drawing a sharp reaction from netizens to the apathy of the civic authorities in controlling the dog menace. According to officials, the attack took place outside an automobile service centre. Gangadhar brought his son along with him to the automobile service centre and left the place, leaving the boy alone there.
Following the incident, about 33 stray dogs were caught by GHMC teams on Monday and Tuesday, of them, 25 were sterilised. They were shifted to the GHMC Animal Care Centre.
Terming the incident tragic, MAUD Minister K T Rama Rao conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the boy’s family and assured remedial measures to prevent such incidents in future. He said that the State Government was making all efforts to resolve the stray dog menace.