HC Orders Rs 10L Compensation For Death Of 4-Yr-Old In Stray Dog Attack In Odisha’s Puri

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday directed Puri Municipality to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to family of a four-year-old boy, who was killed by a pack of stray dogs on December 1, 2016.

The tragic incident had occurred when the boy, whose parents are daily wage earners, was playing near his home at Jagannath Colony in Puri. Kanha was declared brought dead at Puri district headquarters hospital.

The order came less than a week after the division bench of Acting Chief Justice BR Sarangi and Justice MS Raman reserved the judgment on the PIL seeking the compensation, after advocate P K Mohanty, appearing on behalf of Puri Municipality, pointed out there is no provision for payment of compensation in case of death due to attack by stray dogs under the Municipal Corporation Act. He also informed the court that the parents of the deceased were given Rs 30,000 from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and Rs 20,000 from Red Cross.

Petitioner counsel RK Swain had argued the case, citing a July 1, 2022, judgment of the Karnataka High Court in which it had granted Rs 10 lakh to the parents of a two-year-old who was killed by a pack of stray dogs in 2018.

Notably, the petition was filed on December 3, 2016, and the court had first issued notice to Puri Municipality on January 24, 2017. When the HC took took up the case on January 4 this year, it found that the authorities concerned had not replied to the notice during these six year.