Delhi: My children were innocent, says mother of boys killed in dog attack

New Delhi: Though the Delhi Police has registered a murder case in connection with the death of two brothers -- aged five and seven -- in the national capital's Vasant Kunj area, the 30-year-old inconsolable mother of the two said her children were innocent, why them?

Anand (7) and Aditya (5) had died, within a span of two days, after they were bitten by stray dogs near their residence at a 'jhuggi' near a forest area.

The boys' mother, Sushma works at a parlour and is the sole breadwinner of her family. She had shifted here in a small basti at Ruchi Vihar near Vasant Vihar area with three sons in July last year.

"Aditya was a kindergarten student while Anand was in Class II. Now I am left with only one son, Ansh (9)," said Sushma, adding that she doesn't live with her husband.

"My children as usual had gone to play outside and they were near the house when all this happened. It has never happened before. Why now and with me," she said, in a hush tone.

The siblings' cousin sister, Suchitra, who lives in the neighbourhood, was also grief-stricken and said that even Municipal Corporation of Delhi paid no heed to their complaints regarding the dogs.

"The authorities should have taken action after the first incident," she said.

A senior police officer said that on March 10, at around 3 p.m., an information regarding a seven-year-old child going missing was received.

After a search, Anand's body was found at a secluded place.

"There were multiple injuries on his body that seemed to have been caused by some animal bite. Later, it was learnt there are many stray dogs in the forest area that often attack goats and pigs," the police said.

Interestingly, a case under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC was also lodged.

The body of the child was sent to Safdarjung Hospital for post-mortem.

The police said that two days later, on March 12, they received another complaint about a child going missing.

The child was later identified as Aditya, the younger brother of Anand.

The police were told that Aditya, along with his cousin Chandan (24), went to answer the call of nature at a place close to the forest area.

"Chandan was at some distance from Aditya. After some time, when Chandan returned, he found Aditya in an injured condition, surrounded by stray dogs," a police officer said.