NEW DELHI: A seven-year-old boy and his five-year-old brother are suspected to have been mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in two separate incidents that took place in a span of 72 hours in southwest Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area.The victims, identified as Anand and Aditya, lived with their parents and nine-year-old brother in Sindhi Basti camp. The first incident took place on March 10. Police said they received a complaint at 3.10pm from Anand’s family reporting him missing. No toilet at home, boy went to jungle According to Anand’s older cousin Suchitra, he had gone to visit a relative’s house at 9.30am and took the route passing through forested areas.”When Anand’s mother called my mother and asked her to send him back, she realised that the boy had not even reached,” she said.A police team met Anand’s mother and, after an extensive two-hour search in the forested area, found his body at a secluded spot about 100-150 metres away from his house, according to additional DCP (southwest) Rajeev Kumar.”There were bite marks and multiple injuries on the child’s body, which seemed to have been caused by an animal. Inquiry from neighbours and residents revealed that many stray dogs roam the jungle area and attack goats and pigs,” Kumar said.A case under IPC section 302 (murder) has been registered and the post-mortem report is awaited, he added.Two days later, the family was struck by another tragedy. On March 12, Anand’s younger sibling Aditya was also attacked by dogs when he went to relieve himself in the nearby jungle, where he had gone with his cousin Chandan (24). His cousin Suchitra said there was no toilet in the family’s house, which often forced the brothers to go to the forested areas.Police said when the incident took place around 8am, Chandan was standing just a few metres away from Aditya. He later found the child in an injured condition and surrounded by stray dogs. Sub-inspector Mahender, who had gone to the area to investigate Anand’s case, heard the commotion and rushed to the spot. He removed the dogs and took the child to a hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival. Meanwhile, family members of the two boys told TOI that they wanted the children to study but all their hopes have now been dashed. While the boys’ father is mentally unstable, their mother works at a beauty parlour and is the sole breadwinner. The family, which has been living in the area for the past couple of months, is planning to move to another location after the incident.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/brothers-5-7-mauled-to-death-by-dogs-in-delhi/articleshow/98590700.cms
