Four-year-old boy mauled to death by stray dogs in Hyderabad

The child was apparently carrying a packet containing some food item when the dogs pounced on him

A four-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of street dogs in Hyderabad.

The shocking incident, caught on CCTV camera, occurred at a car service station in the Amberpet area where the child's father Gangadhar works as a watchman.

On Sunday, Gangadhar took his six-year-old daughter and son to the service centre along with him as it was a holiday for the kids.

Three to four dogs pounced on the boy who was at the fateful time walking alone towards his sister reportedly sitting in the parking lot cabin, while their father was engaged in his job in another place. By the time his sister came running to the spot and alerted their father, the boy was severely injured in the neck and other areas.

The gravely wounded boy was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead.

"I thought it would be some recreation for kids. It was the first time I took them to the service centre. It was all over in 10-15 minutes,” the aggrieved father told reporters, after the cremation at their native Indalwai in Nizamabad district.

The CCTV footage clip of the heart-wrenching scene was shared widely on social media and the Telangana government, and Hyderabad civic authorities were criticized for the abrupt death of a preschooler. The little boy was seen trying to run away but the menacing dogs surrounded and mauled him.

Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister K T Rama Rao expressed grief over the tragic loss.

"I am very pained by the incident. We have been trying to tackle the street dog menace across the state with initiatives like animal care centres, and birth control measures. We cannot bring the child back but we assure the public to do everything in our capacity to ensure that such incidents do not reoccur," Rao said on Tuesday.