His dog was mauling my child to death but he was on phone: Mother

By the time neighbours managed to pull Dhanlaxmi,the only child born to Chitra Gupta after 14 years of marriage,out of the dog’s “inch-long fangs”,she turned blue and died.

Recounting the incident,Gupta said: “A neighbour’s son,12-year-old Ravi,took my daughter to play outside our house. But after five minutes,he came running and told me that a dog has attacked Dhanlaxmi. I ran outside and saw the dog holding my daughter by its teeth and running around.”

“It’s a big dog with huge fangs and people were scared of going near him. I cried for help and asked the dog’s owner Rajat,who was standing there,to do something. He was on the phone and ignored me. He made no effort to stop the vicious attack,” she said.

She also alleged that Rajat caught hold of the dog’s leash a while later,but did nothing to pull the child out of the dog’s jaws. “I was standing there helplessly witnessing the horrific attack. Instead of rescuing my daughter,Rajat said he would unleash the dog on me if I dare to come near,” she alleged.

“Soon,people gathered with sticks and bricks,and managed to overpower the dog. It took another couple of minutes to forced the dog to let my daughter go,” she said.

Dhanlaxmi was bitten all over and was bleeding profusely. She was taken to Metro Hospital,where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

“When I took my daughter in my arms,she looked at me once and then closed her eyes. I will never let this man go scot-free. I begged him to save my daughter,but he refused,” Gupta said.

The family alleged that Rajat has been illegally breeding dogs for commercial use in the residential colony. A municipal corporation official confirmed that it’s against the law to breed dogs or pet animals for commercial purposes in residential areas.

Moreover,all the pet dogs must be registered with the civic agency. “Rajat doesn’t have a licence to breed dogs. He hasn’t registered this dog with the municipal corporation. He roams the colony with his huge dogs. We do not know why no action is taken against him,” Gupta said.

Rajat is on the run since the incident. Police have registered a case against him. “The man owns a pet shop. He used to send these dogs to various competitions,” a police officer said.