Bangalore:
Stray dogs ripped apart a two-year-old baby at a brick construction site in Bagalur. The child, Prashant, was found dead and mutilated --the dogs tore away portions of his arm and leg.
The police have arrested the site supervisor in this connection.
The child's parents, Sukhdev (45) and Kaikee are residents of Orissa, and had come to the city for work. Bunty, a local contractor offered them jobs at a brick factory in Bagalur, and that's where the couple had been living for the past three months. The site has temporary residential sheds for the labourers to live in.
Sometimes, the labourers work at night, and couples put their children in the sheds, while they work at the factory. Yesterday night, Bunty told Sukhdev and his wife to be on the night shift. The couple agreed, and left their son in the shed, as usual.
In the wee hours of the morning, Kaikee heard her son crying, following which Bunty went and checked, but came back shortly, and told them it was nothing. The couple finished work at 5 am, and returned to their shed. But as soon as they entered, they realised Prashant was missing. The panicked couple checked the surroundings, and found Prashant's mutilated body. After they raised an alarm, other labourers gathered and found some strays sleeping nearby.
To their horror, it dawned upon the crowd that the pack was responsible for the brutality. Labourers recognised one of them as Bunty's pet, and went looking for Bunty. When Bunty saw an approaching crowd he tried to flee, but was caught by the workers, and handed over to the police. Bunty's pet was also taken to the Bagalur police station, where it was kept until the time of going to press.
A minimum four complaints reach the BBMP stray dog helpline center. The department's central division had issued orders to take care of the menace in its eight divisions, but obviously, it still persists.
According to a court directive, BBMP is not allowed to kill the dogs, though it's allowed to sterilise the dogs and release them in the areas they were caught from. A BBMP source said that the city has more than 30,000 strays, and it is difficult to sterilise them all.
Dr G Parameshwar said, "We are doing our best to control the dog population, but to no avail. We had ordered zonal officers to take care of the problem, but there have been lapses. I will escalate the matter to the commissioner and mayor seriously this time."