8-year-old boy severely injured in stray dog attack at Mira Road

Daksh Rawat was playing football with his friends when a stray dog started chasing him, according to the police

MUMBAI: An eight-year-old boy suffered severe injuries after a stray dog attacked him at Mira Road on Monday evening while he was playing football outside his house. The boy, Daksh Rawat, suffered serious injuries to his head and mouth and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

8-year-old boy severely injured in stray dog attack at Mira Road

The incident occurred around 9 pm on Monday in the Poonam Sagar area of Mira Road. Rawat was playing football with his friends when a stray dog started chasing him, according to the police. Before Rawat could resist, the dog bit him on his face and head.

Rawat’s friends informed his parents about what had happened, after which his family admitted him to a nearby private hospital. The doctor advised plastic surgery as the boy had suffered serious injuries to his face.

Manmohan Rawat, the boy’s father, who works as a chef on a cruise ship, said that his son had not provoked the dog. “My son was playing football and just went towards the dog when it suddenly pounced on him. In a previous incident, when the same dog attacked a girl, PETA workers were up in arms, saying the girl had provoked the dog. This dog has been in our society for the past six years and has attacked several delivery boys and kids but has not been removed,” he said.

“When I approached the civic officials, they told me that the dog was vaccinated a few days ago and could have attacked [people] due to that. But we were not warned about it so that we could tell our children to stay home,” he added.

According to civic officials, on average, 32 people are bitten by dogs every day in the Mira-Bhayander region. There are about 30,000 stray dogs in the region and some of them have attacked citizens in packs, officials added. Since January this year, more than 12,000 people have been reported to have been bitten by dogs in the municipal limits.