A 41-year-old woman professor suffered grievous injuries after a German Shepherd belonging to a CRPF deputy commandant attacked her in the CRPF campus.
It is the second such attack by the same dog at the CRPF campus in Yelahanka New Town, whose owner was earlier accused of negligence.
After the attack, the victim, Neha Jain, wife of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer, was admitted to a private hospital for five days. As she was bedridden, her daughter Shivangi Jain, filed a complaint on Monday at the Yelahanka New Town police station, seeking action against Ramesh Kumar, the CRPF deputy commandant, 'who let dogs out in the campus where 2,000 families reside'.
At about 10 pm on December 16, Neha Jain, a New Town resident, was out on a walk, along with her elder daughter Shivangi Jain and her dog. After covering some distance, they saw deputy commandant Kumar's German Shepherd and Labrador roaming free in the campus.
The duo were scared, especially when they spotted the German Shepherd, as the dog had attacked Shivangi just three months ago. They waited for a while till the dogs disappeared from the vicinity. Neha then told her daughter to stay put, so that she would go home and fetch the car.
As Neha was on her way home, the German Shepherd jumped on her from the nearby bushes, tearing into her legs and her jacket. She suffered deep bites on her legs and on her back.
Neha was screaming and crying for help when deputy commandant Kumar came out of his house. Despite witnessing the attack, he did not command the German Shepherd to stop. When Neha showed her leg with deep cuts and flesh wounds, Kumar allegedly told her, that he was playing with his dogs and he will continue doing it.
Soon after, Neha was rushed to the hospital on the CRPF campus, but the doctors said as it was a serious injury, they can't treat her there. She was then asked to go to a private hospital outside. However, Kumar and his family allegedly stopped Neha's car and told her that they cannot allow her to go outside, and tried to block the gate. They allegedly threatened her not to take up the issue further.
Neha, with the help of her daughter's friends, managed to come out of the campus somehow, and was admitted to a private hospital near Hebbal. She got seven stitches on her left leg and her stomach. Her husband, Rajesh Jain, an officer with the CRPF presently posted in Delhi, rushed to Bengaluru the next day.
Shivangi, the elder daughter of the victim and an eyewitness in the case, said it was not the fault of the the German Shepherd, but it was the officer who let the dog roam freely. Action should be initiated against him, she said, adding that he misused his power as an officer, and did not show any concern for the victim. Kumar even tried to interfere when the complaint was being filed at the New Town station, said Shivangi Jain.
Along with the mental trauma, Neha's family incurred expenses of nearly Rs 2 lakh, including medical expenses, her husband's flight ticket fare, and a month's salary.
Police have taken up a case against deputy commandant Ramesh Kumar and has charged him under IPC section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animal) and are investigating. The Yelahanka New town police on Sunday visited the spot and conducted an inspection for further action.
