Boy’s death in stray dog attack puts focus on street safety

The attack on August 4, which took place in daylight in south Delhi's Jamia Nagar area, was so brutal that the boy died in a hospital within a few hours, sparking protests from local residents.

This incident also prompted the Delhi High Court to seek a report from South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on the steps taken by it to control the street dog menace.

Notwithstanding the municipal corporations' claim of sterilising thousands of dogs in the past three years, citizens allege that the civic bodies are "not doing enough".

"Every night when I return from office, dogs near my house chase me. I am not in favour of killing or attacking them, but MCD officials should immediately do something to curb the increasing dog population," said Asad <g data-gr-id="23">Asharaf</g>, a resident of Ghaffar Manzil area in Jamia Nagar.

Students of Jamia Millia Islamia also feel unsafe to step out of the campus, especially at night.

"Many of the students in Jamia stay back on campus till late night to use the library. But it has become really difficult to step out of the campus because of stray dogs," <g data-gr-id="20">Shiyas</g>, a <g data-gr-id="22">PhD</g> scholar at the university, said.