Bengaluru's Canine Conundrum: Lokayukta Raps BBMP After 2 Senior Citizens Killed By Stray Dogs In A Year

News18

6 days ago

Lokayukta Justice Patil's warning to the BBMP, the city civic body, has been straight: fix the problem, or face consequences
Two gruesome deaths of senior citizens within a year, both mauled to death by packs of ferocious stray dogs, have forced the Karnataka Lokayukta to come down heavily on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for what he called 'shocking civic apathy".
With public safety now on the line and the numbers painting a grim picture, Lokayukta Justice Patil's warning to the BBMP, the city's civic body, has been straight: fix the problem, or face consequences.
Furious over the latest incident of 68-year-old Seethappa being mauled to death by dogs, the Lokayukta has pulled up the BBMP and demanded immediate and concrete action. 'Despite previous directions, no effective measures have been taken in a year. Errant officials will be dealt with under Section 13 of the Lokayukta Act," he said.
The death toll and case numbers have laid bare the scale of the crisis.
From January 2025 to the end of July, Karnataka recorded 2,60,514 dog bite cases. In just the last week of July, 10,212 fresh cases of dog bites were logged—of which 8,878 were from Bengaluru city and 4,408 from Bengaluru Urban district itself. To make matters worse, the number of rabies-related deaths this year has reached 13,831, which has also been on the rise.
The latest fatality has reignited public anger. On July 29, 68-year-old Seethappa, a retired worker and early riser, left his home around 3 am for his routine morning walk. Minutes later, he was found dead, mauled by a pack of stray dogs in North Bengaluru.
This comes less than a year after another horrifying attack. On August 28, 2024, 76-year-old Rajdulari Sinha, a retired teacher from Bihar visiting her daughter, was brutally killed by 10-12 stray dogs during her morning walk in Jalahalli. The dogs bit her all over the body. A resident tried to save her, but it was too late.
Following Rajdulari's death, Justice Patil had initiated a suo motu case and issued multiple directions to the BBMP. But with another fatal mauling in the same area, the Lokayukta is now demanding accountability.
'This incident happened in the same BBMP ward where we had taken up a suo motu investigation last year," Justice Patil said, pointing to the second case in North Bengaluru. 'Yet another senior citizen has lost his life. I have directed Bengaluru Lokayukta SP Vamshikrishna to visit the spot, conduct an inquiry and file a report within four days."
In 2019, the death of a young child, Durgesh, was yet another chilling reminder of the city's growing stray dog menace. The five-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in Bajjegowdanapalya near Soladevanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The young child was the fourth of five children of Mallappa and Mallamma, daily wage labourers who had migrated from Kalaburagi district. The family had been living in a temporary shelter near a construction site where the parents worked. Durgesh's father, Mallappa, had recalled to this reporter how his son had asked for Rs 5 to buy a packet of biscuits, as he did not want to eat rice. With Durgesh on his way to the store, Mallappa went for his bath. Suddenly, he heard screams.
'When I ran out, I saw at least ten dogs biting my child," said Mallappa. Durgesh was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, as he had sustained grievous injuries in the attack.
As part of the Lokayukta's directive to the BBMP, Justice Patil instructed them to set up observation homes in each ward to identify and treat aggressive dogs in every ward in the city. While the BBMP's Special Commissioner (Health) said that work is underway to complete a facility in Yelahanka that could house 50 stray dogs and would be completed in 15 days, the Lokayukta was in no mood to listen. He said the incidents only showed how negligent and ineffective BBMP's drives have been and asked them to set up one such housing unit in every ward that falls within the municipality's limits.
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Location :
Bengaluru, India, India
First Published:
August 07, 2025, 07:00 IST
News cities Bengaluru's Canine Conundrum: Lokayukta Raps BBMP After 2 Senior Citizens Killed By Stray Dogs In A Year
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