A seven-year-old girl in Chennai sustained serious facial injuries after being attacked by her house owner’s pitbull in the IOC area near Tondiarpet on Sunday morning. Police said the child, who lives with her parents on the first floor of the building, was bitten on the forehead and chin when she came downstairs.
The dog’s owner, identified as 45-year-old Jothi, resides on the ground floor. According to police, the attack was sudden and unprovoked. The girl’s father alleged that the child’s face was severely injured and that doctors had indicated she might require plastic surgery, with recovery possibly taking up to two years.
Neighbours reportedly rushed to the scene after hearing the child’s screams and took her to Stanley Government Medical College and Hospital, where officials confirmed she was in stable condition.
Municipal authorities said the three-year-old pitbull had been brought to the residence from a relative’s house about a month earlier. While its vaccinations were reportedly current, the owners did not possess a pet licence. The dog has since been captured and relocated to the city corporation’s animal shelter.
Police arrested Jothi and booked her under sections 291 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for negligent conduct with respect to animals and for endangering human life. Officials said a proposal was being considered to impose penalties on pet owners for negligence and failure to obtain proper licences.
Similar Incident in Karnataka
In a separate case, a young girl in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district was attacked by stray dogs on July 19 while playing in her locality. CCTV footage showed two dogs chasing the child, believed to be between six and nine years old, during the day in a residential street. The video recorded the girl tripping and falling as the dogs mauled her, before residents intervened and rescued her. She was later seen visibly shaken and in distress after the attack.
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