The boy was rescued Wednesday after a resident noticed his condition and informed a child helpline number. The 11-year-old boy who was confined in an apartment with 22 stray dogs by his parents in Kondhwa has been shifted to an observation home in Pune as per the directions of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) which has begun an inquiry on the matter. The CWC members interacted with his parents against whom a first information report (FIR) was lodged by the Kondhwa police the other day under various sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
When contacted, CWC member Beena Hirekar told The Indian Express: “The boy was produced before the CWC on Wednesday. He is stable now. He has been shifted to an observation home in Pune… We got to know that he went to school till the fifth standard. But later his schooling stopped. We spoke to the boy’s parents. They said due to Covid-19 and later due to unavailability of money for paying the fees, they were unable to send him to school. However, our inquiry is going on. Parents may love dogs. But there are rules to be followed and what they have done with their son by keeping him with the stray dogs in bad conditions is an offence and hence the FIR was lodged. CWC will submit its inquiry report and based on it police will take further action in this case.”
Hirekar also said that arrangements are being made to provide proper treatment and counselling to the boy.
The boy was rescued this week after a resident noticed his condition and informed a child helpline number. Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe of Dnyan Devi Childline said that the boy’s parents claimed to be dog lovers and kept several stray dogs in their apartment. “The boy was kept with the dogs for almost two years. So, it impacted his behavioural development. We also got to know that his schooling was stopped as he started acting like dogs. We have urged the police to give him proper treatment as well as counselling and follow the directions of the CWC,” said Anuradha.
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