Amreli (Gujarat): A 3-year-old boy playing near an agricultural field was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in Gujarat's Amreli district, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place on the outskirts of Damnagar village of Lathi taluka on Tuesday afternoon when victim Ronak Rathva's parents and other family members, all farm labourers, were working in an agricultural field owned by one Madhubhai Sidpara, an official said.
The child was playing alone in the vicinity, said assistant sub-inspector K R Sankhat of Damnagar police station. The boy's family belongs to a village in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district and they were hired by Sidpara as farm labourers. When the family was working in the field at some distance, five to six dogs attacked the boy and grabbed him by the neck, said Sankhat.
The official said the stray canines also bit the boy on the head and back. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital by his parents, but he succumbed to the wounds shortly after admission, added the official. Earlier in May, the state reported two deaths due to rabies caused by stray dog bites. The first case involved an 18-year-old female who had been bitten by a stray dog six months ago.
In the second one, a 55-year-old man was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and upon examination, it was discovered that he had rabies. He succumbed so after. Earlier this year, Gujarat high court's Acting Chief Justice A J Desai while hearing a petition on the growing canine menace, had said that it was becoming difficult for many citizens to go for morning walks because of the stray dogs. (Agency inputs)
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