Now, a 12-year-old girl mauled to death by pack of dogs in Uttar Pradesh`s Sitapur

There seems to be no end to the stray dog menace in Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh as another 12-year-old girl has been mauled to death allegedly by pack of dogs. The incident occurred in Khairabad police station area of Maheshpur village in Sitapur.

Taking the latest incident into account, at least 13 children have reportedly been mauled to death by dogs in the area in the past few months. Seven of these attacks took place in the last two weeks itself.

On Friday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited Sitapur and met family members of the children who were attacked. The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed and Rs 25,000 for the injured children.

Last week, a team of scientists from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute had arrived in Sitapur to look into the case of killing of children allegedly by dogs. According to scientist Dr Dinesh Chandra, “We are here (in Sitapur) to find out how and why the dogs turned violent and started attacking people.”

According to reports, as many as 18 teams have been deployed by the district administration, who are carrying out operations to nab stray dogs in the region. The villagers have also formed teams to keep a check on dogs attacking more people. Armed with rods, sticks and swords, 

A report in The Indian Express said that the dogs behind the attacks are different from stray dogs usually seen on streets. An eyewitness was quoted as saying that the dogs have a heavier front half and never bark even when hit.

Some reports even referred to the possibility of the attackers being hyenas and not stray dogs. The teams formed by the district administration have caught more than 35 stray dogs in the area.