Bangalore: Stray Dogs Maul Child to Death
Bangalore, Jan 13(DHNS): An 18-month-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of dogs at Bagalur here , sending shock waves among people and triggering demands for eradicating the menace of canines on streets.
The canine menace returned to haunt the city when a pack of stray dogs mauled a sleeping toddler to death at Bagalur on Wednesday morning. The 18-month-old baby boy, identified as Prashant, was sleeping beside his parents in a shanty when stray dogs dragged him out.
“I have seen many bodies in my life but I could not muster courage to see this one. I just had a look at it and closed my eyes. Then I could not stand there for a moment,” said Bagalur police station House Officer C Balakrishna.
According to the police and eyewitnesses, the blood-curdling incident occurred at 3 am on Wednesday. Sukhdeep (50), his wife Kaikeyi (37), from Nuapada district in Orissa, had been staying with their seven children at a brick kiln run by Venkateshwara Rao, who is based at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. The owner had built shanties for some 40 workers. None of them had doors or windows.
Sukhdeep’s eldest daughter Neera told Deccan Herald that her parents and her siblings went to sleep at 11 pm on Tuesday after the tiresome work at the kiln. She was woken up by her parents’ screams in the morning. Prashant was the only male child of Sukhdeep and Kaikeyi. They have six daughters.
At least three to four stray dogs had entered the shanty and dragged Prashant out of the shanty.
The canines had bitten the child so severely that his right leg and fist were severed.
The Bagalur police have registered a case and have arrested the contractor.
The police believe that the child died due to dog bite but await the postmortem report for confirmation.
Wednesday’s incident hasforced the administration out of its deep slumber.
Toddler’s Mauling Brings Community’s Plight to Fore
The lives of the family members of Prashant, who was mauled to death by dogs, are no better than dogs.
reality ‘bites’: Brick kiln workers live in pathetic conditions. dh PhotoPrashant’s parents, Sukhdeep and Kaikeyi, had migrated from Nuapada district in Orissa to Bangalore, lured by their contractor Gonti Yadav. Their dreams of securing a decent life in the city were shattered once they landed and became bonded labourers at a brick kiln in Bagalur.
They are among the hundreds of Dalit families brought to work in the brick kilns in the city and paid a very trivial amount.
"We work from 3 am to 10 pm. If we object to the poor working conditions, we are beaten up badly," said a brick kiln worker. All the labourers in the brick kiln are from tribal regions of Orissa and Bihar. They say that the touts keep doing rounds in their States in search of ‘preys’ and bring them to the cities to work as bonded labourers.
"Anyone can enter our houses as there are no doors. The roof (made of hay, leaves and plastic) leaks during rainy season. There is none to listen to our plight," said another labourer.
Meagre payment
The workers are paid Rs 50 for every 1,000 bricks they make. It is difficult for an individual to meet the target of 1,000 bricks. In spite of the families roping in children also to work day and night, they hardly achieve their target. Children in the age group of five and 15 work at the brick kilns.
"Here every rule is flouted. Neither Prevention of Child Labour Act nor the Minimum Wages Act is followed. The employers here have not provided basic amenities to the workers," said a social worker living nearby.
The report prepared by the Yelahanka Tahsildar, to be submitted to the government, confirms that minimum wages are not paid to the workers and children are employed here. Workers are deprived of all basic facilities that an employer must provide, the report said.