NEW DELHI: Amidst the rising threat of stray dog attacks in the national capital, the death of a six-year-old girl has reignited the debate on civic apathy and public health failures in Delhi’s Pooth Kalan area, near Rohini.
Chavi Sharma, the girl who was attacked, was a Class 1 student who had recently started school. On June 30, she was attacked by a rabid stray while on her way to visit her aunt. The dog bit her multiple times, leaving deep wounds on her left leg, arm and palm.“The dog had been roaming in this area for the last couple of months, attacking passersby and chasing two-wheelers. We had complained to the councillor, to no avail,” said Shakuntala, 64, a previous victim of the same dog’s attack who rushed to the spot upon hearing the child’s screams.Chavi was taken to Ambedkar Hospital, where her anti-rabies treatment began. She received two injections and was scheduled for her third dose on July 28. But on July 24, she developed fever. Doctors at Ambedkar Hospital allegedly dismissed her fever as seasonal flu. As her condition worsened and she had difficulty swallowing water, she was referred from one hospital to another, first to Kalawati Hospital, then Lady Hardinge — which cited the lack of an isolation ward — and from there to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, and later to Safdarjung Hospital.Finally, the family admitted the child to a private hospital at Pitampura on July 25, where Chavi passed away the next day.“It had only been two days since she started attending,” said her elder brother Vishal Sharma, 27, staring at her teddy bear on the bed. “Had the dog been removed, my sister wouldn’t have lost her life.”Chavi was the daughter of Santosh Sharma, and was adopted by Manju and Satish Sharma when she was 3-4 months old, after her mother passed away in 2019. The family has been living in a rented home in Pooth Kalan for the past 25 years. Manju, a homemaker, and Satish, a carpenter, have three other children — Vishal, Akansha and Manish. Chavi’s biological father, Santosh, is yet to arrive to bid her farewell.The family has submitted a complaint at Sultanpuri police station, demanding legal action against MCD officials, who they believe failed to act despite repeated complaints about the dog menace.