Attack and Rescue

A five-year-old girl was seriously injured after being mauled by a stray dog in Bengali Colony, Kota, on Saturday evening. The incident occurred around 7:15 pm when the girl was playing in an alley outside her house, according to reports from Hindustan Times and The Times of India.

CCTV footage of the incident, which surfaced on social media, showed the dog knocking the girl down and dragging her along the pavement while biting her repeatedly. Her screams alerted nearby residents, who rushed to the scene and managed to free the girl. The dog was chased away, but not before the child sustained deep wounds on her head, back, and wrists. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment.

Official Response

The local ward representative, Kishan Prajapati, visited the site and summoned a municipal team to capture the dog. The Kota Municipal Corporation (KMC) has said that measures are being taken to address the stray dog issue in the city.

KMC commissioner OP Mehra said, "Under the Animal Birth Control (ABC) program, dogs captured upon complaints are taken to the ABC centre for sterilisation and returned to the same locality after 3-4 days, strictly following Supreme Court guidelines."

Mehra also mentioned that construction of a dedicated dog shelter is underway in the city's Banda Dharampura area. The facility, with a capacity to house 600 to 700 animals, is expected to be completed within the next seven to eight months. It will permanently house aggressive stray dogs that continue to pose a threat to the public even after being sterilised.

Resident Concerns

Residents have claimed that this was not an isolated event. A sanitation worker was earlier mauled by a stray dog in the same area, they said. Residents are demanding immediate intervention regarding the stray dog issue.