Kochi: A stray dog virtually unleashed terror in Tripunithura and Karingachira areas on Wednesday with at least 13 persons receiving bites. It began around 6 am and continued till 9.30 am before a group of people near the Hill Palace beat the dog to death.
Chinnamma Isaac, who was on her way to the Karingachira Church around 6 am, was the first to be attacked by the dog which then turned to several others in Karingachira and Hill Palace Museum areas. Most people realised about the magnitude of the attack when they reached the Tripunithura Taluk Hospital for treatment.
The victims included a woman official of the Armed Reserve Police camp and a seventh standard student. The injured were identified as Ivin Joseph, 12, C.K. Mohanan, 52, T.S. Ashwathy, 26, T.M. Venkatesh, 26, P.J. James, 58, Asif, 20, Venu, 50, Ammini, 53, Palani Sami, 35, and Joseph Roy, 56. The agony of those suffered the dog bites were compounded by the lack of anti-rabies vaccine at the hospital.
Most of those who sustained injuries came to the General Hospital in Ernakulam for treatment and anti-rabies shots. They were not sure whether the dog suspected to be involved in the attack was suffering from rabies. An officer at the Hill Palace police station told DC that they were unable to identify any of the victims as they have left the place before the cops reached the spot. “We have sent a police team to the General Hospital to collect details,” he said.
The incidents of stray dogs attacking humans in and around the city have gone up in the recent past. Although the Kochi Corporation administration had initiated a birth control project to check the increase in the number of stray dogs, it has not made any discernable improvement in the situation.
