Stray dogs maul boy to death

Hyderabad: In a distressing incident that sent shock waves across Telangana, a 4-year-old child was mauled to death by stray dogs in Hyderabad, prompting strong public reactions where some even described the menace as 'terror'. While a video of the child falling prey to the canines has gone viral, Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao termed the incident "unfortunate" and said he was "pained" over the episode while the city civic body assured of steps to prevent recurrence of such attacks.

Many people took to social media and said stray dog attacks have become a menace in many cities and urged the government to immediately put an end to the issue. In the video clip that has gone viral, the canines are seen suddenly attacking the boy while tailing him, following which he fell. He was walking alone.

The unrelenting pack of strays kept mauling him and there was nobody in sight that could come to his rescue. The child was apparently carrying a packet containing some food item when the dogs pounced on him, a Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) official said.

The incident, which occurred at Amberpet locality on Sunday, was caught on a CCTV camera. The boy's father works as a security guard at a car service centre. The victim suffered serious injuries in the attack and was rushed to the hospital by his father and others where he was declared brought dead, the official said.

"I took my son and daughter to my workplace. After some time, my daughter came and told me that my son was attacked by street dogs. Then I rushed to the spot. I put my bleeding son on my shoulders and took him to the hospital, but to no use. I wish no one faces such a situation," he said. The boy's sister said she saw dogs surrounding her brother and nobody was there to rescue him.

GHMC mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi told reporters every precaution will be taken to ensure such incidents do not recur. People took to twitter and requested state Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to instruct the GHMC authorities to take necessary action.