Shabab’s son was killed, daughter is in hospital Mohammad Shabab was planning to buy new clothes for his children for Eid on Thursday. But since Wednesday evening, he has been in the hospital. A short walk from their shop to the house on Wednesday afternoon turned fatal for his kids – daughter Jannat Fatima (5) and son Mohammad Raza (7) – after a pack of stray dogs mauled them in Lucknow’s Musahabganj area.
“One of my kids is gone, and the other is struggling for her life in the hospital,” said 36-year-old Shabab, who works as a daily wage labourer.
According to the father, the children were playing with him at the cosmetics shop run by his wife. “Around 3 pm, we told our kids to go home. The shop is just 500 metres away from our house. While on the way back, they stopped at the primary government school, where they were mauled by the dogs,” he said, adding that neighbours spotted his kids being dragged by dogs inside the school and raised an alarm. “They had injuries all over their bodies. The neck was brutally injured and blood was everywhere,” said Shabab.
Jannat, who is undergoing treatment at KGMU’s Trauma Centre, is still not out of danger.
According to the residents, this was not the first time that a dog had bitten a child in the neighbourhood. Amit Kumar, who lives in the same area, said: “We have complained to the authorities several times, but the dogs are still all over.”
Lucknow (West) DCP Somen Barma said, “An FIR has not been lodged. It is a case where multiple departments are involved. We are looking into it.”
Lucknow Municipal Commissioner Ajay Dwivedi said there is no provision to keep stray dogs in captivity. “We can only castrate stray dogs to control their population… After the incident, 50-60 dogs were caught from the neighbourhood,” he said.
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