The tragic death of five-year-old Banoth Bharath from Putani Thanda in Raghunadhapalem mandal, who allegedly succumbed to rabies on Monday after being bitten by a stray dog nearly two months ago, triggered demands for urgent steps to address the threat on the streets.
Sources in the Health department said the boy suffered a dog bite near his house in January this year and developed rabies as his injury apparently went unnoticed. The boy subsequently exhibited symptoms associated with rabies and died while being taken to NIMS in Hyderabad in the wee hours of Monday, sources added.
The boy’s family, however, said he suffered serious injuries in an attack by a pack of stray dogs while playing near their kutcha house on Sunday evening. He was taken to a private hospital in Khammam the same night.
The boy succumbed to the injuries while on the way to Hyderabad after doctors advised his parents to shift him to the super-specialty hospital in the State capital.
The boy’s parents — Banoth Ravinder, a physically challenged person, and Sandhya — wept inconsolably when a delegation of the Telangana Girijana Sangham headed by district secretary Bukya Veerabhadram and District Medical and Health Officer B.Malathi visited Putani Thanda on Tuesday.
The delegation presented a memorandum to the DM&HO with a charter of demands including provision of a government job, three acres of agricultural land and a two-bedroom house to the bereaved family and immediate measures to prevent stray dog attacks.
Manchukonda PHC medical officer K.Sandhya Rani told The Hinduthat the parents and other close contacts of the deceased were administered anti-rabies vaccine on Monday as a safety precaution.
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