Two-Yr-Old Girl Bitten to Death by Stray Dogs in Surat

Three to four dogs attacked a two-year-old girl in Surat. Sources said the incident occurred on February 19 at the settlements of construction laborers near the Surat diamond bourse at Khajod.

The child’s parents, Ravi Kahar and his wife Sharmila, a native of West Bengal, had gone to work at a nearby under construction. Kahar had asked the neighbors to keep an eye on the child.

The child, Marshila, was playing with the other children outside their tent when four stray dogs attacked her. Some kids who spotted the incident managed to rescue the minor girl. When they saw blood oozing from different parts of her body, they took her to the New Civil Hospital and informed her parents.

The girl was admitted to the surgery ward, where the doctors treated her, and later on, she was shifted to the pediatric ward. On Thursday early morning, the child died at the hospital.

New Civil Hospital Resident Medical Officer Dr. Ketan Naik said, “When the girl was brought in, we saw blood coming from different parts of her body. We put in all possible efforts and carried out surgery on the scalp, which had 10 cm by eight cm wounds. We also gave her antibiotics. Due to her age, the body might not have responded to the medicines, and as a result, a multi-organ failure occurred, probably due to a septic. We had kept her under observation, and her blood pressure was being recorded but all our attempts failed.”

Talking to The Indian Express, Surat city Mayor Hemali Boghawala said, “We are making all efforts to reduce the number of dog bite incidents in the city. We have also increased sterilization of stray dogs from 30 dogs to 100 dogs each day and have also increased the number of cages from 60 to 200.”

Boghawala added, “We have given a contract to a private agency for the sterilization of dogs, and till date, 13,500 stray dogs have been sterilized and there are more dogs left in the city. We have also held a meeting with the veterinary doctors of the SMC to find out the reason behind the rise in dog bite cases in the city.”