Stray dog mauls 6-yr-old boy at Tower Enclave, video goes viral

A stray dog today mauled a six-year-old child in the Tower Enclave locality of Jalandhar. The boy was seriously injured in the incident. Stray dog bite incidents are reported frequently in the city. This is the second such gruesome incident in the Wadala Chowk locality reported during the last three months.

Three months ago, a pack of stray dogs had mauled a 65-year-old woman, who kept shrieking until some neighbours intervened and the canine dispersed. Today’s incident was reported from a neighbouring locality to the one where the woman was attacked by stray dogs.

The injured child has been identified as Sarthak. In a CCTV video of the incident, which has gone viral, a little boy is seen stomping on the road, moments after which, a stray dog comes running and attacks him. As per reports, the boy sustained over an inch deep injuries on his side and arm.

In the video footage, after being attacked by the dog, the child seeks cover near the gate of a house, but the canine pursues him and drags him until residents come rushing after which the dog flees. The video makes it amply clear that any delay in intervention by passersby could have turned things fatal for the boy.

The boy’s family released a video asking the administration to resolve the problem of stray canine at the earliest.

Child’s father Devnath Bhatia and his family said, “Children cannot be stopped from playing on streets. The growing fear of dogs among residents has sent the alarm bells ringing.”

Bhatia said his family got the boy vaccinated. He said they learnt that 50 dog bites had been reported in the city.

A study has found that there has been three per cent increase in category III dog bite cases in 2024 as compared to 2023. In all, 41,005 cases of dog bites have been reported in Jalandhar in the past two years. As per the data given in the study, there has been a 27.79 per cent increase in dog bite cases in Jalandhar during the past few years.

Jalandhar