Dogs kill child; Bangalore civic body sees black magic

The joy and celebration of fathering a second son ended with a night for Sanjay. His elder son’s mutilated body was  found outside the hospital where his wife has been admitted.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and city police came up with different theories after the toddler was found dead in Yelahanka New Town.

Police said the two-and-a-half-year-old child, Sandeep, was mauled to death by a pack of strays. The BBMP, on the ot
her hand, expressed doubt that the child might have been sacrificed as part of witchcraft, since Thursday was a new moon day (amavasya). However, not many people were buying BBMP’s argument. They expressed their anger and anguish at the palike’s apathy.

Though the BBMP has been discarding the canine attack theory, the civic body dispatched three vehicles to the area, and caught 42 stray dogs.

Police said Sandeep was sleeping with his father and uncle in the basement of Neha Prakash Hospital, where his mother, Nirmala, had delivered her sixth child, a boy, on Thursday afternoon. The boy was her fifth child.

They slept in the basement because the hospital authorities refused entry to the boy’s father, Sanjay, and uncle Srinivas, who were reportedly drunk.

The family hailed from Chhapra in Bihar, and the adults were construction workers, staying in Ananthapura.

Police said Sandeep was mauled to death between 3 am and 4 am on Friday. It has been suspected that the strays attacked the boy after he had walked out of the basement. He was dragged about 300 metres from the hospital and killed. Sanjay found his son missing at  5 am, and launched a futile search, before approaching the police. Police took Sanjay to the IV Phase bus stop at 6 am after receiving information of a body matching the description of the missing boy.

The father identified his son’s body. The body bore several bite marks, and its right leg was ripped off.

A crowd had gathered at the spot before the police arrived with Sanjay. They expressed their anger at the BBMP.

Later, officials from the BBMP, senior police officers, and local MLA SR Vishwanath also visited the scene. Angry slogans greeted the visiting BBMP officials. The palike announced an ex-gratia of `1 lakh to the boy’s family.

Investigators said a post-mortem examination would reveal the exact cause of death. They were expecting the autopsy report in three days.

Sanjay and Nirmala had come to the city from Bihar five years ago in search of employment. The couple has been staying in a rented accommodation in Ananthapura with their children.

The deceased Sandeep was the couple’s fifth child. Sanjay said he has four daughters, Sabita, 12, Lali, 9, Kulan, 7, and Bachcha, 5.

“We are construction labourers. On Thursday night, I slept outside the hospital along with my son. I was happy as I got one more son. But, the very next day my happiness ended abruptly,” Sanjay said outside the morgue in Dr Ambedkar hospital.

Victim of witchcraft or murder?
An official from the BBMP said the toddler could have been a victim of witchcraft. “As it was amavasya, we suspect the kid could have fallen victim to witchcraft or human sacrifice,” he said.

Several others were sleeping in the hospital’s basement, and none of them heard any noise while the child was dragged away by the pack. “There was no blood where the kid was sleeping.Why would stray dogs drag a child for 400 metre to kill and eat him?” he asked.

 “It is difficult for a toddler to go out into the night without the security person noticing him.  Or the child might have fallen victim to a hit-and-run case. The dogs could have tried to eat him later,” he added.

Meanwhile, BBMP animal husbandry joint director Dr Pervez Ahmad Piran said the death was still a mystery. “The cause of the death will be known only after the autopsy report. There is no witness for the dogs attacking the child. The residents believe that strays dogs might have killed the child because of bite marks on the body,” he said.