Jeypore: A six-year-old girl was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Phupgaon village under the Borigumma region of Koraput district on Tuesday. The deceased girl has been identified as Chandini Harijan.
According to sources, Chandini was staying at her maternal grandparents’ house in Phupgaon, and was playing in a nearby field with her brother during the daytime when a pack of at least five stray dogs attacked them.
Chandini’s brother attempted to rescue the young girl from the dogs but, unable to succeed, fled to call for help. By the time locals arrived and drove the dogs away, the girl was found severely injured and covered in blood. She was rushed to the Kumuli Medical Center, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
The heartwrenching incident cast a pall of gloom over the village and has once again highlighted the alarming number of dog bite cases in the state.
In a similar tragedy, on November 13, an elderly woman in Jayanarayanpur village, under Bhograi block in Balasore district, was mauled to death by dogs while sitting outside her home. Earlier on December 4, Gokula Nanda Mallik, Odisha’s Minister of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development of Odisha, informed the State Assembly that the stray dog problem is worsening in the state, with over 500,000 people being bitten in the past two years.
Additionally, in the last ten months alone, over 243,565 individuals have been bitten by dogs. In the previous year, more than 260,000 people suffered similar incidents. The minister also mentioned that approximately 17 lakh stray dogs were currently roaming across the state, highlighting a grave concern.