PANAJI
A 10-year-old child in Camurlim was bitten by a neighbour's pet dog, creating panic among the residents who raised concerns about the owner’s negligence in managing the dog.
The Colvale police stated that the owner of the pet, Siddharth and Aniket Khorjuvekar were arrested following a complaint lodged by the victim’s father.
The incident comes three months after another Rottweiler attacked two underage siblings in Taleigao. The owner, Madhav Rao Chawan, was arrested only after public pressure, on charges of negligence.
In the present case, the police said that the arrested "caretakers of Rottweiler Dog" failed to exercise proper care resulting in the incident.
“Siddharth had handed over the custody of the dog to Aniket for taking care. However, both the accused set their dog free and unattended. As a result, the dog moved out of the house and bit the complainant’s minor daughter who was proceeding to her residence. The victim was bleeding,” the police said. The child is said to be out of danger but is ‘traumatized’ and ‘in pain’ after the dog attack.
The Rottweiler also endangered the lives of other villagers who were present at the place of the incident, as per the First Information Report.
The police said that both the arrested accused are booked under sections 289 (Negligent conduct with respect to animal), 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
DySP Mapusa Jivba Dalvi said that the 'dangerous' Rottweiler dog has been medically examined at Directorate of Veterinary Services, Karaswada and necessary formalities are being observed to handover it's custody to the Directorate of Veterinary Services.
The accused persons have been served notice under section 41-A CrPC.
In August, two siblings, aged 6 years and 5 years, were bitten by the ferocious dog while they were taking an evening walk along with their mother.
The dog leaped over the fence of his owner’s bungalow and lunged at the children unprovoked. They sustained multiple grievous injuries to their face, chest, skull and neck, triggering anger among the residents and the child rights body who demanded immediate arrest of the negligent dog owner.
The incident also caught the attention of the government with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announcing that they were considering banning certain aggressive breeds of dogs that posed a danger to humans. He also raised fear that some of these dogs might not be vaccinated.
While further action is awaited, the State reported yet another dog bite incident at Keri Priol on Sunday. The pet dog has bitten and injured many citizens including students.
