Woman mauled to death by stray dogs in Kapurthala village

Aparna Banerji

Kapurthala, February 7

A 32-year-old mother of three, Ram Pari, was mauled by a pack of stray dogs when she went to collect fodder for her cow from the fields in Passan Kadim village of the district last evening.

The police said that at about 6 pm on Tuesday evening, Ram Pari went out to get fodder for the cattle. Her children were at home at the time and her husband was out on work. When he returned, the children told him that she had not returned since late afternoon. On searching for her, he found her mauled body in the fields near the ‘hadda rori’ (dumping site for animal carcass) not very far from their home.

The deceased was living with her husband Kewal Thakur, a daily wager, at a settlement of migrant labourers situated on the bandh of a drain at the Passan Kadim village. She had three children, aged nine months, 6 years and 10 years.

A weeping Thakur said that, “I have three kids to look after, including a 9 month old, how will I bring them up? Who will help us?”

This is the third case of a brutal attack by stray dogs in the village during recent times. A six-year-old child had died a week back when he was bitten by stray dogs. A woman was admitted to the hospital after she was also attacked by stray dogs recently. A cross section of villagers said they were afraid to step out of their homes for the fear of stray dogs.

SHO Gursahib Singh said, “The police have launched an investigation into the incident. Due to a ‘hadda rori’ nearby, the dogs of the area have become ferocious and lately there has been a sizable increase in the number cases of dogs attacking humans. Ram Pari’s body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.”

DC Amit Kumar Panchal has directed the officials concerned to immediately take necessary action to contain the problem of stray dogs. He held a meeting with the officials, instructing them to take all possible measures to check the menace. Panchal also instructed the SDMs, veterinary officers and other officials to chalk out a plan so that this problem could be resolved.